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OUC Names Ksionek General Manager & CEO ORLANDO - OUC—The Reliable One selected Kenneth P. Ksionek today to become the city-owned utility’s permanent general manager and CEO.
“I’m as humbled and thankful still today as I was the day you put me in this interim position,” Ksionek said. “For all the 1,000 OUC employees and our 600 retirees, my goal and love and desire is to meet your expectations from this day forward.” OUC’s governing board, known as the Commission, conducted a nationwide search for the position and received 61 applications from around the country. At today’s meeting, Commission President Tommy Boroughs brought forward the motion to close the search and offer the position permanently to Ksionek. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer – also a commissioner – seconded. “In the past eight months, Ken has totally exceeded expectations in every aspect of this job. He’s hit home run after home run,” Boroughs said. “We did have some extraordinarily well-qualified people apply. But at the end of the day, they hadn’t earned it. Ken had.” Commissioners said they felt Ksionek’s combination of experience and leadership during this hurricane season clearly rated him as the best candidate to further OUC’s position as the Southeast’s most reliable utility. “When we started this search, it was to find the best-qualified person for this job. And Ken fits the description to a ‘T,’” Mayor Dyer said. “I couldn’t be more pleased by Ken’s performance – he’s earned this position. “This is a great day for OUC and one we will never forget.” Ksionek began his career with OUC in 1985 as the director of construction for the Stanton Energy Center. After successful completion of that project, he was named director of capital projects for the electric operations department in 1987. He was promoted to managing director of transmission and distribution in 1989 and to vice president six years later. “I’m very happy to have come up with the end product of Ken Ksionek being CEO,” said Commissioner Lonnie Bell, who chaired the general manager and CEO search committee. “There was a lot of interest in the position, but we certainly have the winner here. We didn’t feel the need to go any further.” During Ksionek’s tenure as vice president of energy delivery, OUC gained national prominence for its reliability. PA Consulting Group named OUC the Southeast’s most reliable electric utility in 2002 and 2003. Curt Stanton, OUC general manager and CEO for 36 years, was on hand to witness the historic announcement. “I want to say I was completely impressed with the way Ken has handled the really tough projects,” Stanton said. “I’ve seen him operate and interact with the employees and I’m very impressed with this man. It makes me wish I could come back.” In the past eight months, Ksionek successfully negotiated a 20-year consumptive use water permit and led OUC through the most active hurricane season in its history. Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne sent thousands of trees crashing down on homes and miles of power lines, resulting in outages across OUC’s service area. After each storm, Ksionek coordinated OUC’s massive restoration efforts that quickly and safely returned power to customers in nine days after Charley, four days for Frances and three days for Jeanne. “I’m convinced that after these three natural disasters we can tackle any obstacle that faces OUC,” Ksionek said. “It’s an honor and pleasure to serve you and I will do my best from this day forward.” Prior to
joining OUC, Ksionek was employed for 12 years by Gilbert Associates Inc., a
power plant
engineering and construction management firm.
He was involved in the construction management of several major power plant
projects throughout the U.S., including Tampa Electric Company’s Big Bend Unit
4; Arizona Public Service Company’s West Phoenix Combined Cycle Station; and
Delmarva Power & Light Company’s Indian River Unit 4. |
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In
February, Ksionek – a 19-year OUC employee – was appointed interim general
manager and CEO following the death of longtime leader Bob Haven. 
