PPL Montana Names New Chief Operating Officer
August 18 2009 - 12:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
BILLINGS, Mont., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PPL Montana
announced Tuesday (8/18) that a Montanan with 28 years of service
with the generating company will become its new vice president and
chief operating officer. Pete Simonich, who currently serves as
manager-Generating Assets for PPL Montana, will take over his new
position on Aug. 31. He is succeeding Brad Spencer, who announced
his retirement earlier this year. PPL Montana is a subsidiary of
PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL). "We are very pleased to have someone
with Pete's extensive background and experience ready to step into
this important leadership role," said Victor N. Lopiano, PPL's
senior vice president-Fossil and Hydro Generation. "In addition to
his proven operational expertise, as a native and longtime resident
of Montana, Pete clearly is committed to continuing PPL Montana's
excellent working partnerships at the community and state level.
"All of us at PPL Montana thank Brad Spencer for his outstanding
efforts in the eight years he has served as the company's vice
president and chief operating officer. By announcing Pete's
appointment now, Brad will be available to help Pete with his
transition to his new position," said Lopiano. Simonich has spent
most of his career at the Colstrip power plant in eastern Montana,
starting as a startup engineer at the plant in 1981, when it was
part of the Montana Power Co. He also worked as a senior engineer,
staff engineer, maintenance supervisor, director-Performance
Engineering, operations manager and production area leader before
being named general manager of projects at the plant in 1999.
Following the sale of Montana Power's power plants to PPL in 1999,
Simonich was named general manager-Colstrip and was named to his
current position in 2004. In his current position, Simonich also
has responsibility for PPL Montana's hydroelectric facilities in
the state. A native of Butte, he earned a degree in chemical
engineering from Montana State University. He began his
professional career as a process engineer at Champion International
Corporation's Frenchtown, Mont., pulp mill before moving to
Colstrip. Simonich resides in Laurel with his wife, Pam. They have
three sons, a daughter and one granddaughter. Simonich serves on
the National Advisory Board of Montana State University-Billings,
and is a past member of the parish council at St. Margaret Mary
Parish in Colstrip. PPL Montana operates coal-fired power plants at
Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric power plants
along Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and
Flathead rivers. It controls about 1,280 megawatts of generating
capacity in Montana and is responsible for the operation of
facilities with 2,850 megawatts of capacity. PPL Montana has
offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL Corporation controls or
owns more than 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the
United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers
electricity to about 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the
United Kingdom. DATASOURCE: PPL Montana CONTACT: David Hoffman of
PPL Montana, +1-406-431-6783 Web Site: http://www.pplweb.com/
Copyright