Company Website:
http://www.empiredistrict.com
JOPLIN, Mo. -- (Business Wire)
Following yesterday’s meeting of the board of directors of The Empire
District Electric Company, Mr. D. Randy Layne, board chairman, announced
changes to the Company’s senior management team. Effective March 1,
2015, Mr. Blake Mertens, who currently serves as vice president – Energy
Supply, will become vice president – Energy Supply and Delivery
Operations. Mr. Brent Baker will assume the role of vice president –
Customer Service, Transmission, and Engineering effective March 1, 2015,
replacing Mr. Martin Penning who will retire on February 28, 2015.
Blake Mertens (Photo: Business Wire)
As vice president – Energy Supply and Delivery Operations, Mr. Mertens
will have responsibility for the electricity generation function and
operations and maintenance of the line, substation and water systems.
He will assure the continued cost-effective availability of electrical
energy through the overall guidance of operation and maintenance of all
existing Company power plants, development of new generation options,
coal and rail service procurement, gas procurement, gas hedging, and
bulk power marketing and unit commitment. He will also be responsible
for line, substation and water system operation and maintenance as well
as compliance with environmental and NERC regulations.
Mr. Mertens joined the Company in 2001 as staff engineer in Energy
Supply. Positions he has held include combustion turbine construction
project manager, manager of Strategic Projects, assistant director of
Strategic Projects, director of Strategic Projects, Environmental, and
Safety and vice president – Energy Supply.
Prior to his employment with Empire, he was an energy consultant for
Black & Veatch of Overland Park, Kansas.
Mr. Mertens is a licensed professional engineer. He received a Bachelor
of Science in Chemical Engineering at Kansas State University and a
Masters of Business Administration at Missouri State University.
Mr. Mertens currently serves as vice chair for the board of the Wildcat
Glades Conservation & Audubon Center in Joplin and as a board member of
the Joseph E. Newman Innovation Center. He has been an active leader in
various youth athletic programs in Carl Junction.
Mr. Baker will become general manager – Customer Service, Transmission,
and Engineering, on November 1. In this capacity, he will be responsible
for the commercial activities of the Company including all aspects of
customer service and marketing, transmission and distribution
engineering, system performance, land management, and transmission
operations as well as compliance with FERC and NERC regulations.
Effective March 1, 2015, Mr. Baker will assume the role of vice
president – Customer Service, Transmission, and Engineering.
Mr. Baker joined the Company in 2002. Positions he has held include
structural engineer, senior structural engineer, manager of Construction
Design and director of Customer Service.
He received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Missouri
University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri. Mr. Baker is a
registered professional engineer.
He currently serves as president of the Downtown Joplin Alliance. He
also serves as a board member of Children’s Haven of Southwest Missouri
and the Republic, Missouri, Business and Industrial Development
Association. He is the past president and state director for the
Missouri Society of Professional Engineers Southwest Chapter and is an
advisory committee member for Project Lead the Way. Mr. Baker is on the
executive board of the Young Professionals Network of the Joplin Area
Chamber of Commerce.
Based in Joplin, Missouri, The Empire District Electric Company (NYSE:
EDE) is an investor-owned, regulated utility providing electricity,
natural gas (through its wholly owned subsidiary The Empire District Gas
Company), and water service, with approximately 217,000 customers in
Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. A subsidiary of the company
provides fiber optic services. For more information regarding Empire,
visit www.empiredistrict.com.
Certain matters discussed in this press release are “forward-looking
statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability
established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.Such
statements address future plans, objectives, expectations, and events or
conditions concerning various matters.Actual results in each
case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such
statements, by reason of the factors noted in our filings with the SEC,
including the most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20141031006043/en/
Contacts:
The Empire District Electric Company
MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
Amy
Bass, 417-625-5114
Director, Corporate Communications
abass@empiredistrict.com
or
INVESTOR
RELATIONS
Dale Harrington, 417-625-4222
Director,
Investor Relations
dharrington@empiredistrict.com
Source: The Empire District Electric Company
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