After two decades leading the Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA), longtime-public servant Duncan Kincheloe is planning to retire next year.
Last week, Kincheloe announced that effective Aug. 1, 2020, he would step down as president and general manager of MPUA — though in the year following his retirement he will still do some part-time work. The former Missouri Public Service commissioner — who also served as director of policy for the Missouri Governor’s Office and an associate attorney general — has been with the organization since 1999.
“Duncan Kincheloe has nurtured the growth of our organizational services for 20 years through some unprecedented industry changes,” Chuck Bryant, general manager of Carthage Water & Electric Plant (CWEP) and MPUA chairman, said.
“Municipal leaders of the 1990s envisioned the tremendous potential of this Alliance, and statewide voters fully empowered it in 2002,” Kincheloe said. “It has been exciting every day to share in the momentum of this service. We will have a smooth transition as today’s leaders and skilled staff keep achieving even more for our communities.”
Kincheloe’s role includes chief executive responsibilities for the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission, the Municipal Gas Commission of Missouri, the Missouri Association of Municipal Utilities, and board chair of the MPUA Resource Services Corporation.
Kincheloe will continue to manage various assignments on a part-time basis for up to a year after his retirement, including federal electricity policy matters and management of the MPUA Resource Services Corporation.
He is an officer on the boards of the Prairie State Energy Campus, Hometown Connections Incorporated, and the Transmission Access Policy Study Group (TAPS).
In 2018, Kincheloe received the American Public Power Association’s James D. Donovan Individual Achievement Award, which recognized significant contributions to the electric utility industry and public power.
Before coming to lead MPUA in 1999, Kincheloe was employed as the director of government relations by the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, California.
MPUA is planning to launch a nationwide search to recruit a new president.
“Our nationwide search will be designed to find a leader who can continue the type of strategic leadership that strengthens our community-owned utilities and tackles the challenges that lie ahead,” Bryant said.
Headquartered in Columbia, MPUA represents more than 120 municipal utilities in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, and Nebraska. With nearly $1.5 billion of investment in power plants, MPUA supplies electricity to 64 municipal utilities. It provides natural gas to 11 utilities and financial, regulatory, legislative, and training services to other municipal members.
Alisha Shurr was a reporter for The Missouri Times and The Missouri Times Magazine. She joined The Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University.
