Ozarks Profile

Special assistant to the chief executive officer and general manager, Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., 2814 S. Golden, Springfield. Associated Electric is owned by and provides wholesale power to six regional and 51 local electric cooperative systems in Missouri, Oklahoma and southeast Iowa. AECI serves more than 680,000 homes and businesses, representing 1.8 million individual consumers. AECI owns and operates two coal-fired plants. Its New Madrid Power Plant, in southeast Missouri near the Mississippi River, has two turbines generating 600 megawatts each. Associated's Thomas Hill Energy Center Power Division, in north-central Missouri, has three turbines generating 180 megawatts, 303 megawatts and 670 megawatts, respectively. The cooperative also owns and operates two 22.5 megawatt oil-fired turbine generators in Unionville, and has a long-term contract with the Southwestern Power Administration for 519 megawatts of hydroelectric peaking power. AECI is jointly developing a new 250-megawatt, combined-cycle electric generation plant west of Glennonville, with Duke Energy Corp. From its headquarters in Springfield, AECI controls planning and support services for its operations. About 640 workers are employed at three locations. McNabb's professional affiliations include the board of directors of Georgia Systems Operations Corp., one of two new companies formed in the restructuring of Oglethorpe Power Corp. in Georgia; the research advisory committee for the Electric Power Research Institute; the engineering and operations committee for the Southwest Power Pool; the engineering committee for the North American Electric Reliability Council; and membership on the University of Missouri-Rolla's industry advisory council. An endowed scholarship was established in McNabb's name at UMR for students in the electrical engineering program.

Age: 66.

No. of years in Springfield/area: 36 years.

Education: Received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from UMR in 1958; graduated from Marshfield High School in 1949.

Early career: McNabb joined AECI in 1962 as director of engineering and operations. That was the year AECI was formed and his first position was a job he held until 1996 when he became special assistant to Jim Jura, AECI's CEO and general manager. As the company's first director of engineering and operations, he negotiated AECI's first interconnection and developed resources for AECI, which today include more than 8,000 miles of transmission lines and 2,400 megawatts of generation. He also developed transmission agreements with 37 utilities throughout the Midwest that provide pathways for AECI to buy and sell power outside its system. AECI has grown significantly since those formative years. During 1997, the cooperative had total operating revenue of $540 million and net margins (profits) of $32.5 million.

Current projects: Planning future resources for AECI and working with CEO and general manager on special projects for AECI.

Management philosophy: "Have you ever flown at night from St. Louis to Springfield and seen all of the lights spreading out throughout rural Missouri? That is what motivates me; I know somebody is out there who is better off because of something AECI is doing," McNabb said.

Spare-time pursuits: Cattle farming.

Family data: He and his wife, Clayton, have two sons: Steve McNabb, a vice-president with Allgeier, Martin and Associates, in Joplin; and David McNabb, manager of resource planning and operations at AECI. They also have five grandchildren.

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