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.