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Tag: West Florida Electric Cooperative

SECO Energy Board of Trustees Selects New CEO

SECO Energy’s Board of Trustees recently voted to hire a new CEO to step into the shoes of retiring CEO Jim Duncan, who led the cooperative as CEO for most of his long and distinguished 43-year tenure. SECO Energy currently provides electric service to 220,000 homes and businesses across seven counties in fast-growing Central Florida. SECO Energy is a J.D. Power award-winning electric utility and is a frontrunner statewide and nationally with the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

 

The candidate selected by the Board of Trustees from both internal executives and external applicants is Mr. Curtis Wynn who has been the President and CEO of Roanoke Electric Cooperative in North Carolina since 1997, a not-for-profit electric utility that serves 14,000 members. Prior to that, Mr. Wynn was the Vice President of Member Services, Information Technology, Marketing and Economic Development from 1981 to 1997 at West Florida Electric Cooperative. Mr. Wynn steps in at SECO Energy in time to transition into Jim Duncan’s departure date of January 3, 2022.

 

Mr. Wynn is married with three children and is a graduate of Troy University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration & Management Information Systems. With nearly 42 years of experience in the electric cooperative industry, Mr. Wynn’s resume reflects a long list of awards and accomplishments showing a history of supporting creative solutions that are turning the challenges of the energy industry evolution into major opportunities.

 

Mr. Wynn also serves or has served on a variety of boards including: immediate past board president, National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA); past president, vice president and secretary-treasurer of North Carolina Electric Membership Cooperative; board member, North Carolina’s Association of Electric Cooperatives; board member, Meridian Cooperative (formerly Southeastern Data Cooperative – SEDC); and past nominating committee member, CoBank.

 

SECO Energy is a not-for-profit electric cooperative, operated for and owned by its members. SECO’s nine-member Board of Trustees consists of members who live in SECO’s service area. They are elected to oversee the governance of the cooperative. Each Trustee on the Board is elected by the members who reside in his/her District. Collectively, the Trustees are responsible for establishing, reviewing and revising corporate policies to ensure that SECO continues to preserve reliable, affordable service for all members.

 

SECO Energy Board of Trustees President Richard Dennison stated, “Welcome, Mr. Wynn. Our expectation is that you continue the extremely successful legacy that CEO Jim Duncan nurtured throughout his career with SECO Energy and to see our cooperative into the future supporting our strategic goal of providing affordable, reliable electric service.”

 

To view brief bios of SECO Energy’s Board of Trustees and a District boundaries map, visit SECOEnergy.com>Your Co-op>Board of Trustees. “Like” SECO’s Facebook page and “follow” @SECOEnergy on Twitter for news releases and cooperative updates.

 

SECO Crews Aid in Hurricane Michael Restoration

SECO Energy organized a module of SECO employees to travel to the Florida Panhandle to aid in power restoration after Hurricane Michael’s 155 mph winds, torrential rains, and immense storm surges ravaged the area. SECO also released contract crews who are also traveling Thursday morning to the damaged areas to aid in restoration.

 

Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 155 mile per hour winds. The hurricane moved swiftly east through Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina before being downgraded to a tropical storm around midnight Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands of consumers are without power in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. Michael is responsible for at least two deaths in Florida.

 

A module of SECO first class line technicians, a superintendent, a crew supervisor, a mechanic and a project engineer departed from the SECO Energy headquarters compound early Thursday morning to assist in power restoration at Tri-County Electric Cooperative in Madison, Florida. Tri-County serves members in Dixie, Jefferson, Madison and Taylor Counties along the Gulf of Mexico coast.

 

Wednesday evening, SECO released a portion of its contractor work force to aid in restoration as well. Crews from overhead line contractor Pike are traveling to West Florida Electric Cooperative in Graceville, Florida.

 

CEO Jim Duncan stated, “Cooperative members in North Florida desperately need assistance. Cooperation among Cooperatives is one of the seven Cooperative Principles, and SECO and its employees are honored to be called upon to aid in power restoration. The cooperative bond is strong, and we believe in working together to help our members’ lives return to normal.”

 

Duncan added, “My thoughts and prayers are offered for all who were devastated by Hurricane Michael and for the safety of our crews and contractors who are traveling to assist.”

 

Vice President of Operations John LaSelva stated, “A Category 4 hurricane like Hurricane Michael wreaks havoc on homes, businesses and electric systems that consumers rely on. The news coverage clearly shows that the hurricane’s destruction was catastrophic. SECO employees were quick to volunteer and answer the call for aid. After Hurricane Irma’s destruction in SECO’s territory last year when so many crews came to assist us, SECO employees believe they have a duty to help our neighboring cooperatives and their members. It was a proud moment this morning seeing our employees off and praying for their safety.”

 

SECO Traveling Module Team Members:

 

• Bubba Cole
• Kenneth Budd
• Rodney Lipps
• Mark Locklear
• Kenny Merritt
• Gary Zachary
• Robby Pruett
• Eric Fort
• David Olszanski
• Cory McNeal
• Kent Sprague
• Derek Eveleth
• Brandon Blackmon
• Tommy Lakin
• Logan Delk
• Troy Clough
• Robert Recanzone
• Ryan Hendrix
• Rick Walsh
• Rich Freyser

 

SECO Energy provides online resources to help families prepare for tropical storms and hurricanes. View an emergency checklist, generator safety information and storm preparation tips online. Bookmark SECO’s StormCenter outage map on your smartphone and tablets to easily access the outage reporting platform. Enroll to receive outage communications via voice, text or email. StormCenter is available online at SECOEnergy.com>StormCenter.

 

“Like” SECO’s Facebook page and “follow” @SECOEnergy on Twitter for news releases and cooperative updates. Visit our Community page online to learn more about SECO’s corporate citizenship and other community outreach initiatives.

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