United Power promoted Jonathan Aust to Senior Vice President and Chief Energy Resource Officer, according to a press release on July 2.
“We are fortunate to have someone with the professional background and high level of expertise that Jonathan brings to this position,” said Mark A. Gabriel, President and CEO. “His more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry has already been an asset to the cooperative while working with our power supply team the past few months, learning the details of United Power’s many power purchase agreements.”
Aust will replace Dean Hubbuck, who is retiring in August. He started working with United Power as the co-op’s Vice President of Energy Resource Planning earlier this year.
According to officials, before joining United Power, he worked as Vice President of Power Operations for Western Area Power Administration, a hydropower marketing group based in Lakewood. He led a team of more than 80 employees supporting power operations that covered a seven-state region and two balancing authorities, delivering power to energy providers across their region.
Aust has previous experience serving as Vice President of Information Technology for SCADA/EMS, a supervisory control and data acquisition energy management system supporting the WAPA control center across 15 states, according to officials.
Additionally, Aust served on several leadership industry committees, including multiple that represent the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). He was also honored in 2022 with the WECC Outstanding Contributor Award.
“As we expand our many power contracts and continue to diversify our resources, we need a leader like Jon in this key role,” stated Gabriel. “His ability to lead a team, coupled with his extensive knowledge of the industry, will help continue to build a new portfolio of power that reflects the cooperative’s focus on diverse power sources and integration of local generation.”