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Tag: Old Dominion Electric Cooperative

ODEC announces next president and CEO

Chris Cosby will become president and CEO of Glen Allen’s Old Dominion Electric Cooperative on Feb. 1, 2025.

Cosby succeeds John C. Lee, who has been ODEC’s president and CEO since Sept. 8, 2023, initially serving in an interim capacity. ODEC announced Lee’s retirement, effective Feb. 1, on Monday. He will serve as a senior adviser to the member-owned cooperative after his retirement.

Lee previously served as ODEC’s chairman of the board and also was president and CEO of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative (an ODEC member) and of Mecklenburg’s Empower Broadband subsidiary.

“Chris Cosby will do an excellent job as ODEC’s next president and CEO, and he could not be better suited to lead this organization as our industry moves into unprecedented times,” Lee said in a statement.

Cosby is currently ODEC’s chief operating officer. Since joining ODEC in 2018, he has served as senior vice president of power supply, vice president of regulatory affairs and director of asset management.

“I am honored and thrilled to be selected as ODEC’s next president and CEO,” Cosby said in a statement. “ODEC’s operational excellence and unparalleled commitment to serving its members make ODEC one the nation’s most successful [generation and transmission cooperatives].”

Before joining ODEC, Cosby held varying positions at General Electric, Dominion Energy and Alstom Power. Prior to his career in the utility industry, Cosby served on active duty in the U.S. Navy as an officer and pilot, flying the P-3 Orion, for 10 years. Cosby deployed throughout Western Europe, South America, Iceland and Puerto Rico.

“I am honored and thrilled to be selected as ODEC’s next president and CEO,” Cosby said in a statement, citing “ODEC’s operational excellence and unparalleled commitment to serving its members.”

He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy.

ODEC is a not-for-profit, member-owned power supply cooperative. The cooperative has 11 member electric distribution cooperatives that supply electricity to 1.5 million people in 70 counties across Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

ODEC keeps interim president and CEO permanently

John C. Lee Jr. will stay on as Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s permanent president and CEO after serving in an interim capacity since Sept. 8, 2023, the Glen Allen-based not-for-profit power cooperative announced Monday.

In October 2023, ODEC began its search for a new president and CEO after Marcus Harris resigned in September. He’s now senior vice president of planning and power supply for Central Electric Power Cooperative in South Carolina.

Lee had also been president and CEO of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative and Empower Broadband, but he will retire from those roles to focus his attention on ODEC, according to a news release. He was CEO of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative since January 2008 and since then has also served on ODEC’s board of directors, including as chair from 2020 to 2023. He will resign from his board position with his new role.

Lee had been with Empower Broadband since 2018, and he held several roles at ODEC beginning in 1992.

“I am honored to be selected as the CEO of one of the nation’s premier generation and transmission cooperatives and will work diligently to maintain ODEC’s powerful legacy of outstanding service to its members,” Lee said in a statement. “ODEC and its dedicated board of directors are focused squarely on the needs of those we serve, and it will be a privilege to work alongside the outstanding team of employees at ODEC as we tackle imposing issues that face our industry, while keeping the electrons reliably flowing to our 11 member electric cooperatives.”

Lee has also served on other electric cooperative boards, including the Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, National Cooperative Services Corp. and others.

He has a bachelor’s degree in business from Mississippi State University.

“John has served as ODEC’s interim CEO extremely well over the past five months, and the board is completely confident that this continued transition to his full-time service will proceed without the cooperative missing a beat,” ODEC board Chairman Steven Harmon said in a statement. “We are extremely optimistic about the future of the organization due to John’s leadership and ODEC’s talented staff.”

In January, ODEC named Jack Robb its chief legal officer and senior vice president and Chris Cosby its chief operations officer.

ODEC is a not-for-profit. member-owned power supply cooperative that supplies wholesale power requirements to its 11 member electric distribution cooperatives that provide electricity to 1.5 million people in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.

ODEC names two C-suite execs

Glen Allen-based Old Dominion Electric Cooperative has named Jack Robb as its chief legal officer and senior vice president, and Chris Cosby as chief operations officer, the not-for-profit cooperative announced Monday.

Robb joined ODEC as deputy chief legal officer last year, but before that, spent a decade serving as outside counsel while working for Miles & Stockbridge and LeClairRyan. He started his new role Jan. 1. Cosby had been serving as interim COO and senior vice president of power supply since former COO Rick Beam retired two years ago and became permanent COO on Dec. 12, 2023.

Robb replaces Michael Hern, who stepped down as chief legal officer at the end of 2023 but still works with ODEC as a consultant.

Chris Cosby

“Jack is a tremendous asset to ODEC and will make an outstanding chief legal officer,” John C. Lee Jr., interim president and CEO of ODEC, said in a statement. “He has a deep understanding of the laws and regulations governing ODEC and has a strong appreciation for the need to provide reliable, affordable power to ODEC’s members and their 1.5 million member-consumers.”

Robb has a law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law and a bachelor’s in economics from Washington and Lee University. The Maryland native is vice chair of the Virginia Bar Association’s law practice management council. He is also an active member of the Richmond Bar and several energy and construction industry associations.  He was a partner at Miles & Stockbridge, was COO and chief legal officer at HMR Funding and a shareholder at LeClairRyan before joining ODEC in 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Chris has done an exceptional job since taking on the COO responsibilities, and we are proud to remove the interim from his title. He brings a wealth of industry knowledge to ODEC that he effectively uses to the benefit of ODEC’s members” Lee said in a statement. “He is also a highly competent manager, an exceptional engineer and the epitome of a team player.”
Cosby, a Virginia native, has a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. Before joining ODEC in 2018, he worked for General Electric, Dominion Virginia and other companies and served in the U.S. Navy, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In October 2023, ODEC began its search for a new president and CEO after Marcus Harris resigned in September 2023.
ODEC is a member-owned not-for-profit wholesale generation and transmission electric cooperative.  The cooperative supplies power for not-for-profit retail distribution cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. It serves 1.5 million people.