In the first 83 years since Ohio’s electric distribution cooperatives pooled their resources to create a statewide association to provide services for their group, only six people have served in that organization’s executive leadership position before this month.
It’s a testament to continuity and consistency that is not lost on Craig Grooms as he assumes the role of president and CEO of Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives (the unified efforts of Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc., the service organization, and Buckeye Power, the generation and transmission cooperative the co-ops formed to provide the electricity they distribute to their members). Grooms rose from his previous position as chief operating officer upon the retirement of Pat O’Loughlin, who served in the position for 10 years.
“Our association has a long history of leadership that has made sure these two organizations function at a high level,” Grooms says. “Coming in, my initial thought is, ‘first, do no harm.’ I have an obligation, a responsibility, to make sure we continue to function at that same high level, because our success directly translates into success for each of our member cooperatives and, in turn, into a better quality of life in the communities they serve.”
The executive leadership team at Ohio’s electric cooperative statewide organization (from left): Kevin Zemanek, Tom Alban, Craig Grooms, Ben Wilson, Bill Roberts, Kurt Helfrich, and Doug Miller.
Grooms says his motivation to serve co-op members stems from his family’s roots in rural southern Ohio — specifically in the area served by West Union-based Adams Rural Electric Cooperative. “It’s a familiar story for really anyone connected to rural Ohio,” he says. “They value any chance to maintain that bond, and it’s even more rewarding when they can help improve life there. I’m humbled to have that same opportunity.”
Grooms will have an experienced senior leadership team in place to advise and support him in his work — each of whom brings a similar passion for the cooperative business model and motivation to make life better for co-op members across the state.
Tom Alban
Vice president for power generation
Tom Alban is responsible for the generation resources — which include the coal-burning Cardinal Power Plant and two natural gas-fired peaking plants — that provide reliable, always-available power to co-op members’ homes and businesses around the state.
Alban, who has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in engineering management, started out at AEP, working projects like construction of a new power plant and adding emissions controls to existing plants. When he came to work for Ohio’s co-ops in 2004, that hands-on experience was invaluable when Buckeye took over operations at the Cardinal Plant, which had formerly been managed by AEP.
He’s found that while the physical operations and maintenance of aging power plants present an ongoing challenge, so too does the ever-changing landscape of regulations and compliance. “We spend a lot of effort in evaluating complex regulations and developing strategies to comply with them,” he says — but stresses that it’s worth it.
“There’s a big difference between working for an investor-owned utility and for cooperatives,” Alban says. “At cooperatives, it’s all about the members and providing affordable, reliable electricity, which makes people’s lives better. I’m proud to be a part of that.”
Doug Miller
Vice president for statewide services
Doug Miller has been involved with electric cooperatives for 34 years. He worked his way up the ranks to become CEO at Logan County Electric Cooperative in Bellefontaine before joining the statewide association in 2014, and now proudly leads the division that, he says, helps put Ohio’s cooperatives in a position to fulfill their ultimate mission.
“People may think of their co-op just as the place they pay their electric bill, but their real purpose, their mission, is to improve the quality of life in the communities they serve,” Miller says. “So in turn, it’s our mission here to help them in areas of common need — things like legislative issues, training their linemen to safely keep the power on, organizing Youth Tour, or putting together a quality magazine to help them communicate with their members — so they can focus on other things.”
Miller says the community mindset was emphasized as soon as he started at the co-op. “I worked for a guy who put me in a position to be a community leader,” Miller says. “He made sure I understood that our success hinged on the quality of life in our community so we did all our work with that in mind,” he says. “It’s the same at co-ops everywhere; you can see just how committed they are. When you witness people coming together to work for the common good during everyday life or in a time of disaster, it’s magical. If I can be in a position to help make that happen, that’s right where I want to be.”
Bill Roberts
Vice president for accounting and finance
When he worked in accounting and finance in the retail industry, Bill Roberts’ main focus was helping his company’s bottom line, balancing the interests of shareholders who wanted to make the most money possible, customers who balked at high prices, and a management team looking out for its own compensation. “It was a real three-ring circus,” he says.
Working for the past 15 years for the co-ops, though, where he’s played a significant part in setting the rates that members pay for their electricity, is an entirely different experience. “Here, no one asks, ‘How much money can we make?’” he says. “It’s ‘What can I do to keep rates both stable and affordable?’”
For example, Buckeye Power might earn unexpected revenue by selling electricity on the open market during severe weather. Instead of distributing those excess profits to shareholders or giving a bonus to the management team, Roberts might recommend paying down debt, or deferring some revenue to ensuing years’ budgets to protect against shortfalls later — thus avoiding future rate hikes. “The accounting decisions that I recommend to our board are not the same as they would be if we had different priorities,” he says. “It’s awesome to be able to focus on that end user, our member. But that’s what we do.”
Kurt Helfrich
General counsel
Kurt Helfrich practiced for 20 years at an outside law firm, where he represented Ohio’s co-ops on a wide range of legal and regulatory issues, before OEC hired him full-time to establish its in-house legal department in 2018. He is OEC’s principal lawyer, helping advance the organization’s interests in court, but also supporting Ohio’s co-ops as they navigate complex topics like large power contracts, Ohio electric utility territorial law, and energy regulations.
He says his work is important because there are few voices representing end-of-the line co-op members when those issues are being decided. “Other participants [in those proceedings] may represent narrow or conflicting interests such as shareholders, regulated utilities, environmental and renewable advocates, large industrial consumers, merchant generators, and transmission owners,” he says. “My sole mission is to represent the interests of the Ohio cooperatives and the members who own and control them.”
Kevin Zemanek
Vice president for operations
Kevin Zemanek wears several hats, though perhaps his most critical task is managing Buckeye Power’s interactions with the larger electric grid — balancing the minute-by-minute supply of electricity to meet members’ needs. He also makes sure Buckeye stays in compliance with regional and national grid regulations, and he manages OEC’s physical facilities.
Zemanek has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering technology and a master’s in engineering management. He started at Buckeye Power a little more than 20 years ago as a power system scheduler, gaining experience and responsibility ever since. “I was lucky that I joined just as our regional energy market was expanding to include Ohio, so I learned all of the market rules early on.” He was also part of the Cardinal Plant transition in 2018.
Zemanek says the best part of his work is being able to focus solely on what’s best for members. “We know exactly who we work for: the members at the end of the line,” he says. “Our goal is reliable, affordable, safe power, not just making money. We don’t have shareholders telling us what to do. Members have a voice at the distribution co-ops, and those co-ops have a voice on our board.”
Ben Wilson
Assistant vice president for power delivery
Ben Wilson says he leads the “wires” team, responsible for getting electricity from the power generators to the co-ops — usually at their substations — so the co-ops can distribute that energy to their members. Since joining OEC in 2012, he’s also led Buckeye Power’s work to incorporate alternative energy resources, such as the OurSolar program.
“I enjoy this work because I enjoy solving puzzles, and the electric grid is a big, complicated mess,” he says. “No one controls everything, and yet the grid somehow has to function while thousands of different organizations claim ownership over some part of the whole. I’m proud and happy that our members trust us to not only make sense of it, but to help bend it in the best direction over time.”
