After four decades of service to the energy industry, Neil retired on May 3rd.
Neil graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree from Oklahoma State University. His first job right out of college was in 1985 with the then Missouri Public Service as a load dispatcher. Subsequently, he held many titles, including transmission operator, technical services engineer, energy trader, day-ahead energy trader, and finally manager of wholesale operations. He began his employment with KMEA in 2007 to take the position of Director of Operations. Neil then took the position of Director of Transmission and Security, a title he held until retirement.
In almost 40 years of service to the industry, Neil has witnessed significant changes from the early days of “watching the board and calling a serviceman.” He has also been instrumental in managing several other significant events, such as Y2K, moving control centers three times, implementing a new SCADA system three times, and incorporating the merger of companies’ systems on three occasions.
Neil takes pride in the accomplishments he has been a part of at KMEA. Several projects stand out to him, including KMEA becoming an SPP member in August 2007, building the EMPs, the City-to-City Model, the Garden City rollout from Sunflower, putting KMEA into the SPP Market, constructing KMEA’s SPP Market Billing Model, and implementing SPP Day 2 Market.
“Neil wears at least seven hats for us at KMEA. He has many talents and skills, and we have selfishly taken full advantage of that. Neil has managed our security systems, IT, phone systems, software applications, and played a crucial role in the startup of our EMPs. We will sorely miss Neil but wish him and Nancy the best in retirement“, says KMEA General Manager Paul Mahlberg.
As Neil reflects on his time at KMEA, he most enjoyed working with the staff and member cities’ personnel. The autonomy that this organization provides to take ideas and turn them into reality has been particularly rewarding for him. He also takes pride in helping member cities create opportunities to benefit their communities.
Neil is looking forward to traveling and working on his cars now that he will have the time.
Please join the KMEA team and membership in congratulating Neil on his retirement and thanking him for all his dedication to serving the members and the agency.
