Rappahannock Electric Cooperative CEO to retire

Kent D. Farmer leaves Aug. 1, to be replaced by John D. Hewa

Published June 2, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Fredericksburg-based Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) announced Tuesday that president and CEO Kent D. Farmer, who has served since 2004, will retire Aug. 1. He has been with the company for a total of 41 years.

“It has been my honor and privilege to lead REC and to serve its membership for the past 16 years,” Farmer said in a statement. “Having served two decades in executive leadership, now it is time for me to allow the next generation of leaders to take the helm.”

John D. Hewa, REC’s vice president of corporate services and chief operating officer, will succeed Farmer as president and CEO. There has been a multiyear succession plan in place, Christopher G. Shipe, chairman of the REC board of directors, said in a statement. 

Hewa has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the electric utilities industry. He has previously served as CEO of electric cooperatives in Texas and Florida and as vice president of research, engineering and technical services at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Arlington.

REC serves 22 Virginia counties and has more than 17,000 miles of power lines across the state. It has more than 170,000 customers.

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