John Singleton, General Manager/CEO of Black River Electric Cooperative has accepted the position of chief executive officer at M&A Electric Power Cooperative in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Singleton leaves BREC after more than 34 years of serving members, the last ten as General Manager/CEO. He will begin his new duties in early January.

Singleton started his career with BREC in 1990 as a Power Use Advisor, working with members on energy efficiency, safety and economic development. In 1997 he was named Manager of Marketing and was selected as the co-op’s General Manager/CEO in December 2014. During his tenure as general manager, the cooperative navigated its way through many challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising wholesale power costs and a devastating tornado which destroyed most of BREC’s headquarters complex. Singleton credits the Board of Directors, management and employee group for meeting these and many other challenges. “Delivering electricity is a challenging business, but the team at BREC is second to none,” said Singleton. “Co-op members have a great Board and an unbelievably dedicated workforce, focused on serving its members.”

Singleton said his time at BREC has been rewarding beyond measure for him and his family. “We have been so blessed to be part of BREC. Hopefully we have contributed in some small way to the history of a great organization with the wonderful mission of providing safe, reliable and affordable energy to our friends and neighbors.”

Although he is leaving BREC, Singleton isn’t leaving the Missouri electric cooperative family. M&A Electric Power Cooperative is the power wholesaler for BREC and three other electric cooperatives in Southeast Missouri. They own the transmission lines and substations which serve the four co-ops. Singleton is excited about the opportunity to continue serving co-op members in this new capacity.

The process to select a new General Manager is already underway.  The Board of Directors is anticipating a smooth transition and looking forward to working with the new General Manager to continue serving the cooperative’s 25,000 members.