Tulsa, OK – U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced the selection of Jon Worthington as the new Administrator of the Southwestern Area Power Administration (Southwestern) in Tulsa, OK, effective January 4, 2008.  Mr. Worthington currently serves as Administrator of Southeastern Power Administration in Elberton, Georgia, and will replace current Southwestern Administrator Mike Deihl, who is retiring from federal service at the end of the year.

“Jon is a dedicated and capable public servant who brings years of leadership experience and electricity expertise to his new position,” Secretary Bodman said.  “I would also like to congratulate the outgoing administrator Michael Deihl for his distinguished career at the Department of Energy.  I wish him well in his retirement from federal service.”

Mr. Worthington currently serves as Administrator of Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA) in Elberton, Georgia where he manages the day-to-day activities of the agency including strategic planning, key policy development and implementation, and negotiations pertaining to hydroelectric operations and marketing.  DOE  will conduct a search for a new SEPA Administrator in the coming months.

Mr. Worthington's career spans 25 years in the electrical utility industry.  He began his career in government in 1982 at the Bonneville Power Administration in Spokane, Washington, where he led negotiations and preparations of long-term power sales contracts and the task force for wholesale transmission rates and open access issues.  He later managed DOE's National Laboratories site utilities planning and management program in Washington, DC; served in the Rural Electrification Administration working to improve creditworthiness of financed borrowers, and worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the lead analyst on Federal power rate cases.  Before he was named Administrator of SEPA in 2006, Mr. Worthington served the Department of Energy as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Southeastern and Southwestern Power Administration in Washington, DC.

An Idaho native, Mr. Worthington earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.   He serves as Southeastern’s Member Representative to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and SERC Reliability Corporation, and is an organizing member of the Idaho Special Olympics.

Southwestern is a part of the U.S. Department of Energy, and markets and delivers reliable, cost-based hydroelectric power and related services within a six-state region.

"Southwestern Power Administration is an important provider of electricity to the people of the region, and I look forward to working with Jon to continue a strong record of reliability in the Southwestern region," Secretary Bodman said.

Southwestern’s current Administrator Mike Deihl will be retiring from federal service at the end of the year after a distinguished career spanning nearly 32 years with Southwestern, the Alaska Power Administration, and several positions within the Bureau of Reclamation, including Chief of Maintenance at the Hoover Dam.

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Megan Barnett, (202) 586-4940