DREMC selects new president and CEO

DREMC CEO James Wright

The Duck River Electric Membership Corporation Board of Directors announced that James Wright has accepted the position of president and CEO and will assume the leadership role on Nov. 4.

“James brings an extensively broad range of experience to Duck River Electric that we believe will serve our members and employees well,” shares DREMC Board Chairman Anthony Kimbrough.

Wright currently serves as Vice President of Corporate Services at GreyStone Power Corporation located in Hiram, Georgia, and since 2013 has led a division responsible for many internal functions and member-focused areas within the cooperative.

GreyStone Power Corporation, a cooperative serving 150,000 meters, serves portions of eight counties in west-metro Atlanta. During his tenure at GreyStone, Wright helped the cooperative attain the highest safety accreditation score ever awarded by their statewide organization, Georgia Electric Membership Corporation. In 2019, the cooperative achieved the J.D. Power Award with the highest customer satisfaction rating ever received at that time by an electric utility and has placed in the top five in the cooperative segment the following three out of four years.

Kimbrough adds that Wright has accomplished an impressive academic and professional resume, but it is his commitment to a member- and employee-focused culture that is one of the many things that contributed to a unanimous board decision for him to lead DREMC.

“All 13 board members are tremendously excited about the days ahead for Duck River Electric,” adds Kimbrough, “and we are convinced that James is exactly the leader that our members and employees desire and value.”

“My family and I feel incredibly blessed to be joining the Duck River family, and I look forward to working with the Board of Directors and employees during this exciting time in Duck River’s history. I am a firm believer in providing our member-owners with the best service possible, and we will do this at Duck River by building upon our culture of collaboration, investing in our employees, and having a strategic plan that focuses on our members and employees,” says Wright. James and his wife Miranda, along with their four sons, are preparing to relocate to the Middle Tennessee area.

“While we as a board of directors are grateful that the nearly six-month-long nationwide search led us to James Wright as our next CEO, we are just as grateful for the guidance that Troy Crowell and his leadership team have provided and will continue to provide to the DREMC family,” said Kimbrough. “Thank you for letting us serve you and thank you for joining us in welcoming James Wright to DREMC.”