Electric Co-op Today

MARCO ISLAND, Fla.—Why did Juan Garza leave a job running a well-respected municipal utility to take the helm of a co-op facing challenges from consumer-members, including a class action lawsuit?

“They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Garza quipped at the 2009 CEO Close-Up session, “Leadership in Tough Times.”

The previous CEO and board chairman both left Pedernales Electric Cooperative, and as moderator Martin Lowery, NRECA executive vice president for external affairs, noted, “Many of you in the room probably thought about that and said, ‘I don’t want to go anywhere near that situation.’”

But Garza did. He left the general manager’s post at Austin Energy to take the general manager job at Johnson City, Texas-based Pedernales in February 2008.

The co-op’s roots include staunch support from Lyndon Johnson, then a local congressman and a founder of the co-op.

And Garza noted that even when he arrived, Pedernales had many positives going for it.

“All of the fundamentals were really sound,” he said. “Their reliability was great,” energy costs were low and consumer-members ranked the co-op high in J.D. Power satisfaction surveys. “At no time during the process has any legislator or anybody of any significance criticized the delivery of service by employees.”

But changes were needed in other areas, and one important thing Garza has done is add transparency to the way Pedernales is run.

That includes holding board meetings in public meeting areas throughout its territory, posting the date and time on its Web site and inviting consumer-members to not only attend, but also participate.

“The board deliberates and takes action in open session,” he said. “If they need to discuss something in executive session they restrict those discussions to matters involving personnel and professional matters,” but actions are taken in public.

Tags: CEO Close-Up, Governance