At its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 11, the Benton PUD Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to appoint Rick Dunn as the General Manager effective March 1, 2020.

Dunn, a native of the Tri-Cities area and graduate of Kiona-Benton High School in Benton City, was serving as the Senior Director of Engineering and Power Management and has been with Benton PUD since 2007.  In his role as the Senior Director of Engineering and Power Management, Dunn was responsible for system engineering, distribution design, conservation and renewable energy programs, and power contracts and analytics.  Dunn’s previous utility experience includes working at Umatilla Electric Cooperative in Oregon and Salt River Project in Arizona. A graduate of Washington State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Professional Engineer license, Dunn has more than 33 years of electrical power and utility systems engineering and operations experience in both the public and private sectors.
 
“The Commission is pleased with the strategic direction that has been underway for several years relative to maintaining low retail rates, improving customer service offerings, modernizing our electric system, and implementing advanced technologies” said Jeff Hall, President of the Benton PUD Commission. “We are fortunate to have Rick Dunn who is extremely well-qualified to build on these successes as well as address our next set of strategic challenges including acquisition of capacity resources to meet customer loads, securing power contracts and addressing uncertainty in west coast power markets.”
 
Dunn succeeds Chad Bartram, whose retirement took effect on February 29, 2020.  Bartram was with Benton PUD for nearly 19 years holding positions of Director of Finance & Business Services and General Manager.  He served in the role of General Manager since January 2013.  Previously, Bartram worked at Energy Northwest for 15 years and served on active duty as a U.S. Army officer for over 5 years. “I am very thankful for having had the opportunity to work with such a great group of dedicated and skilled employees, and a supportive Board of Commissioners,” said Bartram.  “It is absolutely amazing what our employees have accomplished over the last several years.  Under Rick’s leadership, I see more great things ahead.”