Big Rivers CEO, president retiring by end of year
Jul. 6—Big Rivers Electric Corporation announced Wednesday that Bob Berry, its president and CEO, will be retiring by the end of the year.
Berry began working at BREC in January 1981 at the company's Coleman generating plant, where he served in many roles until joining Western Kentucky Energy, a subsidary of Louisville Gas and Electric, in July 1998.
In July 2009, Berry rejoined BREC as the vice president and was promoted to chief operating officer in February 2013, later becoming CEO and president in 2014.
"I am so proud of my staff and our employees who, over the last nine years, transformed Big Rivers into one of the highest-performing generation and transmission cooperatives in the country, when no one believed we could do it," Berry said.
The Big Rivers board of directors has retained an executive recruitment firm to help select a new CEO, and Berry will remain in office until his successor is named.
"We have the unpleasant task of finding Berry's replacement," said Wayne Elliott, chairman of Big Rivers' board of directors. "His leadership is unparalleled to anything in the business world, and I want to thank Bob Berry for his dedication to leading us where our company is today."
The call to retire was an "extremely difficult decision" to make, Berry said.
"I love the people I work with; however, after 42 years in this industry, it's time for me to spend more time with my family," he said. "After all, no one is promised tomorrow."
