Jack Alvey has been with IMPA since 1992 and was named President and CEO in 2022. Before becoming President and CEO, Alvey was responsible for IMPA’s generation operations, electrical facilities, maintenance, safety, and environmental and reliability compliance as the Agency’s Chief Operating Officer. Alvey served in the United States Navy’s nuclear power field prior to working at IMPA. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from IU Kelley School of Business as well as a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University.
What did the journey to becoming President and CEO of IMPA look like?
I started as an entry level operator/technician at IMPA’s new combustion turbine sites in Richmond and Anderson. I had no idea what lay ahead, but I went to work focused on learning everything I could about combustion turbines and utility operations. The training I received at IMPA, and the Mechanical Engineering Technology classes I was taking at Purdue at the time began a long path of understanding utility power generation, transmission, metering, and distribution. I also read as many industry trade publications and materials as I could to gain further knowledge.
I think I brought some organization to IMPA’s CT stations due to my time in the US Navy’s nuclear power field and being the plant’s electrical supervisor. I became the CT Plant Superintendent and finished my BS degree through night classes after 8 years of pursuing my degree. I was then offered the position to be the manager overseeing all of IMPA’s generating assets, which included the CTs, jointly owned plants, and member generation (IMPA still had four members with their own power plants at this time). I was a little reluctant to accept this offer, but IMPA’s management convinced me to make the move from Richmond to Carmel, and it turned out to be the right decision for my family and me.
Here, I was exposed to the baseload coal side of IMPA’s portfolio and the business side of operations, including contracts. I read a lot and asked a lot of questions but still felt I needed more education to help fill in the gaps, so I started the MBA program at IU Kelley. Those three years were quite a challenge, but I can say the things I learned in the program were most beneficial. While I worked on my MBA through night school, IMPA pursued Anderson Unit 3, acquisition of CT units in Georgetown, and new coal plant projects that became Prairie State and Trimble County 2. These projects were challenging, as I didn’t have much experience yet, but I was exposed to top industry engineers, business leaders, and lawyers. I learned from watching and listening and participating in the months and years that these projects took to develop and build.
These projects were completed by 2012, and we started looking at solar in 2013. This was another area where I had no experience. IMPA staff worked together to build solar facilities and put together a system to develop, design, build and operate solar installations like no other utility in the country. This provided me with another great learning experience on things like land purchase, zoning, drainage, and solar equipment.
In late 2021, Raj Rao announced that he was retiring as IMPA President and CEO in 2022. I made the decision in December 2021 to throw my hat into the ring as an applicant for IMPA’s CEO position. I had tried to learn as much as I could in each of my roles at IMPA so that if there were another opportunity available, I could be among those considered for it. I was humbled to be offered the CEO position by IMPA’s CEO Selection Committee, while also feeling challenged by it and by no means thinking I knew everything I would need to know. I continue to try to learn more each day. We can always learn because no one knows everything.
The greatest things that mattered along the way were my wife and family’s support for the decisions that were made, some luck, being surrounded by and working with good people, enjoying the subject matter of my work, continual education, learning, listening, and asking questions.
What about IMPA makes you proud to work here?
I’m proud of the service we provide to our members and their customers to deliver one of life’s two most fundamental needs for survival – power and water. And we do it with a low cost, reliable, and environmentally responsible approach. We do it with a relatively small staff of top-notch people.
What key lessons have you learned from working in public power?
The value of local control cannot be understated. Public power gives community citizens a voice in the operational decisions of their municipal utility, an invaluable asset. We must keep emphasizing this to our members and their customers. For both IMPA and for our member utilities, the mission is serving customers as opposed to short-term returns for stockholders.
What future challenges should IMPA and public power be prepared to face?
We must be prepared to continue the evolution of our power supply as some of our assets are near the end of life. We also must do that with the political risk of regulation in mind. We will continue to have a diverse portfolio and a reliable portfolio — we can’t sacrifice that. So, we may have to work on behalf of our members to make sure we are doing everything we can in the regulatory arena to continue our mission, which we are more than prepared to do
I think I brought some organization to IMPA’s CT stations due to my time in the US Navy’s nuclear power field and being the plant’s electrical supervisor. I became the CT Plant Superintendent and finished my BS degree through night classes after 8 years of pursuing my degree. I was then offered the position to be the manager overseeing all of IMPA’s generating assets, which included the CTs, jointly owned plants, and member generation (IMPA still had four members with their own power plants at this time). I was a little reluctant to accept this offer, but IMPA’s management convinced me to make the move from Richmond to Carmel, and it turned out to be the right decision for my family and me.
Here, I was exposed to the baseload coal side of IMPA’s portfolio and the business side of operations, including contracts. I read a lot and asked a lot of questions but still felt I needed more education to help fill in the gaps, so I started the MBA program at IU Kelley. Those three years were quite a challenge, but I can say the things I learned in the program were most beneficial. While I worked on my MBA through night school, IMPA pursued Anderson Unit 3, acquisition of CT units in Georgetown, and new coal plant projects that became Prairie State and Trimble County 2. These projects were challenging, as I didn’t have much experience yet, but I was exposed to top industry engineers, business leaders, and lawyers. I learned from watching and listening and participating in the months and years that these projects took to develop and build.
These projects were completed by 2012, and we started looking at solar in 2013. This was another area where I had no experience. IMPA staff worked together to build solar facilities and put together a system to develop, design, build and operate solar installations like no other utility in the country. This provided me with another great learning experience on things like land purchase, zoning, drainage, and solar equipment.
In late 2021, Raj Rao announced that he was retiring as IMPA President and CEO in 2022. I made the decision in December 2021 to throw my hat into the ring as an applicant for IMPA’s CEO position. I had tried to learn as much as I could in each of my roles at IMPA so that if there were another opportunity available, I could be among those considered for it. I was humbled to be offered the CEO position by IMPA’s CEO Selection Committee, while also feeling challenged by it and by no means thinking I knew everything I would need to know. I continue to try to learn more each day. We can always learn because no one knows everything.
The greatest things that mattered along the way were my wife and family’s support for the decisions that were made, some luck, being surrounded by and working with good people, enjoying the subject matter of my work, continual education, learning, listening, and asking questions.
What about IMPA makes you proud to work here?
I’m proud of the service we provide to our members and their customers to deliver one of life’s two most fundamental needs for survival – power and water. And we do it with a low cost, reliable, and environmentally responsible approach. We do it with a relatively small staff of top-notch people.
What key lessons have you learned from working in public power?
The value of local control cannot be understated. Public power gives community citizens a voice in the operational decisions of their municipal utility, an invaluable asset. We must keep emphasizing this to our members and their customers. For both IMPA and for our member utilities, the mission is serving customers as opposed to short-term returns for stockholders.
What future challenges should IMPA and public power be prepared to face?
We must be prepared to continue the evolution of our power supply as some of our assets are near the end of life. We also must do that with the political risk of regulation in mind. We will continue to have a diverse portfolio and a reliable portfolio — we can’t sacrifice that. So, we may have to work on behalf of our members to make sure we are doing everything we can in the regulatory arena to continue our mission, which we are more than prepared to do.