DULUTH, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Barbara A. Nick, recently retired president and CEO of Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC), has joined ALLETE’s (NYSE: ALE) board of directors. She was elected by the board July 28, 2020.
Nick’s career in the electric and gas energy industry spans four decades. She has extensive strategic, regulatory and operating experience in five Midwest states through her leadership roles with Integrys Energy and Wisconsin Energy Group, (NYSE: WEC). She most recently served as president and CEO of Dairyland Power Cooperative for the past five-and-a-half years, where she oversaw an energy diversification strategy including wind and solar additions and a proposed electric natural gas generation plant, which is a joint partnership between DPC and a subsidiary of ALLETE. Based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, DPC is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative generation that provides wholesale electrical requirements for 24 distribution cooperatives and 17 municipal utilities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.
“We are fortunate and excited to welcome someone of Barb’s caliber to our board,” said Al Hodnik, Executive Chairman of the ALLETE board. “Barb’s extensive IOU and cooperative energy industry and strategic planning experience, focus on corporate culture and talent development, and demonstrated ability to partner with a diverse set of stakeholders makes her a natural fit for ALLETE.”
Before joining DPC, Nick served as president of Minnesota Energy Resources and president of Michigan Gas Utilities within the Integrys Energy Group from 2012 to 2014. From 1999 to 2012, she held multiple positions with what was then WPS Resources Corporation (NYSE: WPS) and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, now WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC). Positions included five years as senior vice president of energy delivery and customer service, and president of the Upper Peninsula Power Company.
“Barb’s emphasis on values, leadership development and principled governance will be valued additions to the board,” said Lead Director Heidi Jimmerson. “As we guide ALLETE into the future, we look forward to hearing her unique perspectives grounded in her decades of experience in the electric and gas industries.”
As an engaged advocate for communities and public service, Nick has more than 30 years of board service on various profit and nonprofit boards. She is serving a six-year term on the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), which includes oversight of state funds valued at over $100 billion. She also served on the board of directors for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and was a member of the EPRI Governance and Nominating Committee.
Nick completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program in 2003, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Business from UW-Green Bay in 1983. Upon retirement, she and her husband, Jay, moved from La Crosse to Green Bay. They have six grown children.
Nick joins an experienced ALLETE board committed to best-practice governance. The ALLETE board also includes ALLETE President and CEO Bethany Owen; Hodnik; Lead Director Heidi E. Jimmerson (former executive vice president, secretary and general counsel at Florida East Coast Railway LLC); and directors Kathryn W. Dindo (retired vice president and chief risk officer for FirstEnergy Corp.), George G. Goldfarb (president and chief executive officer of Maurices Incorporated), James J. Hoolihan (retired chief executive officer and chair of the board of Industrial Lubricant Company; owner and president of Can-Jer Industrial Lubricant, Ltd.), Madeleine W. Ludlow (retired vice president and chief financial officer Cinergy Corp; founder and chair of the board of West Capital Partners LLC), Susan Nestegard (former president of Global Healthcare, Ecolab, Inc.; advisor for True Wealth Ventures), Douglas C. Neve (former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Ceridian Corp.), and Robert P. Powers (retired vice chair and advisor to the chair and chief executive officer of American Electric Power Company).
ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE: ALE) is an energy company headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota. In addition to its electric utilities, Minnesota Power and Superior Water, Light and Power of Wisconsin, ALLETE owns ALLETE Clean Energy, based in Duluth; and BNI Energy in Bismarck, North Dakota; and has an 8 percent equity interest in the American Transmission Co. More information about ALLETE is available at www.allete.com. ALE-CORP
The statements contained in this release and statements that ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
