Delaware Electric Cooperative’s board named Rob Book as acting president and chief executive officer.
He previously served as the senior vice president of member services at the Greenwood-based Co-op. Book takes the reins of the cooperative from Greg Starheim, who will continue to serve as a senior advisor to DEC until the end of January 2023.
“For more than 20 years, I have been honored to serve members in various roles at the co-op — I’ve also been proud to call the 170 DEC employees I work with family,” said Book. “What we do at DEC is special. Every day we’re focused on how we can provide affordable, reliable, and sustainable power to Delawareans. As a not-for-profit utility, we are committed to doing what’s best for the people we power.”
Book started his career at DEC as coordinator of informational services back in 2001. During his tenure, he worked as manager of government and community relations, assistant vice president of member services and was promoted to senior vice president in 2020.
During his time at DEC, Book was instrumental in launching DEC’s Beat the Peak program, which has saved members more than $38 million since 2008.
Book said DEC will remain focused on maintaining excellent reliability, providing members with affordable and reliable power and preparing the grid for the growing popularity of electric vehicles.
“The energy industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation, which brings both challenges and opportunities for our co-op. My goal is to ensure we are able to provide cleaner and more reliable energy to members while keeping costs as low as possible.”
The member-owned utility has been dealing with soaring costs of natural gas for power plants as well as other inflationary pressures, which have led to rate increases for members. The cooperative’s territory includes fast-growing areas that will require beefing up the grid and substations.
Delaware Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric utility powering more than 112,000 homes, farms, and businesses in Kent and Sussex Counties. It is headquartered in Greenwood.
