Chicopee, Holyoke, Wilbraham, Hampden and Ludlow locals to serve MMWEC
Date: 5/24/2010
LUDLOW The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) elected two new directors and a new chair during the public power organization's May 6 annual election of directors and officers.
MMWEC Director Jonathan Fitch, manager of the Princeton Municipal Light Department, was elected by the Board of Directors as the chair, replacing Ashburnham Municipal Light Department nanager Stanley Herriott, who chose not to seek re-election after six years on the board, including the last two as chair. Also stepping down is MMWEC Director William Waters, general manager of the Peabody Municipal Light Plant.
Herriott thanked the board for the opportunity to serve the MMWEC organization and credited the board and membership for the achievement of various governance, policy and administrative goals during his tenure.
"We have made tremendous progress because we are more cohesive as an organization," Herriott said. "The work of the board, membership and MMWEC staff is better synchronized, and that is translating into greater value for the MMWEC members," he said.
Both Herriott and Waters were recognized for their "exemplary and valuable service to the MMWEC organization" in board resolutions presented at the election meetings.
Gary Babin, director of the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department, and Jeffrey Cady, manager of the Chicopee Municipal Lighting Plant, were elected by the MMWEC membership to three-year terms as MMWEC directors.
The Chicopee utility, along with the South Hadley Electric Light Department, joined the MMWEC membership in 2009, bringing the number of MMWEC member municipal utilities to 20. Mansfield renewed its membership in 2009 after reviewing alternate service options.
"After looking at other options, our board determined that MMWEC offers the best overall value for the services needed by municipal utilities to stay competitive in today's volatile power marketplace," Babin said.
Peter Dion, manager o the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department, was re-elected by the membership to a second one-year term as president of MMWEC. In addition, Sean Hamilton, general manager of the Templeton Light and Water Plant, was re-elected by the membership to a second three-year term as an MMWEC director.
Other MMWEC officers for the coming years, as elected by the board, are Ronald DeCurzio, chief executive officer and secretary; James Kline, treasurer; Alan Menard, assistant treasurer; Nancy Brown, assistant secretary; and Nicholas Scobbo Jr., general counsel.
Other incumbent MMWEC directors elected by the membership are Marblehead Municipal Light Department general manager Robert Jolly, Holyoke Gas and Electric Department Manager James Lavelle and Shrewsbury Electric and Cable Operations manager Thomas Josie.
Michael Flynn and Paul Robbins, both of Wilbraham, serve on the board as gubernatorial appointees. Flynn also represents the town of Wilbraham on the board, with Luis Vitorino and John Flynn representing the towns of Ludlow and Hampden, respectively.
MMWEC is a non-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state's consumer-owned, municipal utilities.
The MMWEC, through a public energy partnership established in 1969, provides the services, expertise and strategic vision to help municipal utilities optimize their energy resources and find value in the shifting structure of New England's wholesale power markets.
