The Board of Directors of Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative has announced that Stan C. Feuerberg will retire as president and CEO, effective April 1.
Stan C. Feuerberg
Additionally, the board named David E. Schleicher as chief operating officer, effective Feb. 1. Schleicher will become NOVEC’s president and CEO upon Feuerberg’s retirement.
NOVEC’s Board of Directors Chairman Wade House said, “The board offers its sincerest thanks to Stan for his 30 years of dedicated service. Under his leadership, NOVEC has grown into one of the preeminent electric utilities in the country.”
Feuerberg has served as president and CEO since joining NOVEC in January 1992. During his tenure, the electric cooperative grew from approximately 72,000 metered customers at year-end 1991 to more than 177,000 at year-end 2021.
In 1991, the co-op sold 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours, with sales increasing to 7.4 billion kwh at year-end 2021. NOVEC’s peak system load also increased from 389 megawatts to 1,431 MW. During the past 30 years, NOVEC’s operating revenue increased from $121 million to $665 million. The value of the cooperative’s assets grew from nearly $270 million to $1.1 billion, placing NOVEC among an elite group of electric cooperatives.
Additionally, NOVEC’s base electric rates did not increase during Feuerberg’s three decades at the helm. Rather, he oversaw a 2011 rate decrease that reduced residential rates by 4.5%.
Feuerberg also oversaw several significant achievements:
- 1995: Construction began on NOVEC’s proprietary fiber-optic network that now extends 335 miles.
- 2000: For-profit subsidiaries NOVEC Solutions and NOVEC Energy Solutions were founded to offer additional services to customers.
- 2009: The cooperative separated from its wholesale power supplier. NOVEC’s newly created Power Supply Division began purchasing power on the open market.
- 2012: NOVEC ranked first in the nation in the J.D. Power Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.
- 2013: A 49.9-megawatt biomass electric generating facility in Halifax County, Va., began generating renewable energy from waste wood.
- 2016: NOVEC patented the NS ONE–net dense wave division multiplexer that allows data to travel in both directions on a single fiber-optic strand, instead of two.
- 2020: For 23 consecutive years, NOVEC earned the distinction of being the most reliable electric utility in the Washington D.C., metropolitan area, as measured by an industry standard.
Prior to joining NOVEC, Feuerberg was chief operating officer of Vermont Electric Power Co. and general counsel of the Western Area Power Administration in the U.S. Department of Energy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a juris doctor degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Feuerberg has been active in a number of community organizations; in particular, Easter Seals UCP Virginia.
Feuerberg and his wife, Robyn, are the parents of Danielle (Bruce) Arthur and Amy Feuerberg, and grandparents of Norah Arthur.
“NOVEC is the successful co-op it is today, in large part, because of Stan’s insight and leadership. We wish him all the best in his retirement,” House said.
Schleicher joined NOVEC in 2017 as vice president of administration, substations and telecommunications. Previously, he held positions at EnergyUnited EMC in North Carolina and PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania. Schleicher holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University and a Master of Business Administration in operations management from the University of Scranton. Schleicher is a registered professional engineer.
—Report by Lisa R. Hooker, Vice President of Public Relations, NOVEC