Connexus Energy CEO Succession

The Connexus® Energy (Connexus) Board of Directors announces the upcoming retirement of CEO Gregory L. Ridderbusch. Having served since October 2015, Greg led our electric cooperative through a powerful transformation from a traditional distribution utility to an independent electric cooperative responsible for our own power supply.

Notably Greg, the leaders, and employees of Connexus successfully integrated distributed energy resources into the distribution grid, including 20MW of solar and 15MW of batteries, the first in commercial operation in Minnesota. By 2024, another battery application will be integrated into a substation, deferring distribution capital and providing topping capacity during peak demand periods.

An earlier conversion from meter readers to Advanced Metering Infrastructure [AMI] led to powerful data analytics, which enables the only behavioral demand response retail product in Minnesota called Peak-Time Rebate.

In the course of these innovations, Connexus negotiated an exit from Great River Energy membership and permanently converted to a customer business model effective January 1, 2023. As a result, building upon capped legacy G&T resources, Connexus now enjoys 100% flexibility and responsibility for building and evolving its power supply portfolio.

Connexus members experience reliability that is perennially in the top 5% of the nation’s utilities and enjoyed five years of zero rate increase until inflation forced a modest 2.94% increase in 2023. The new customer business model is already saving costs and the first full year of results will be reported at the cooperative’s Annual Meeting in April 2024. Board Chair Fran Bator stated, “Connexus Energy members will long benefit from these successes, and we wish Greg many happy years.”

The Connexus Board of Directors has retained CarterBaldwin Executive Search to assist in identifying and selecting the next CEO. Ridderbusch will retire after the selection and transition of his successor, targeted by early 2024. Candidates interested in the CEO opportunity should direct questions or submit a letter of interest and resume to Chris Guiney, [email protected].

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