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Harmon leaving Opelika Power ServicesApr 19, 2013 (Opelika-Auburn News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Steve Harmon, director of Opelika Power Services, has announced he will be leaving his post at the end of May to accept a new job outside Alabama. Harmon, who came to OPS in August, has accepted a job as chief executive officer of Community Electric Cooperative in Windsor, Va. Harmon's last day in Opelika will be Friday, May 24. Harmon said he has enjoyed his time in Opelika, but that he is looking forward to the new opportunity at CEC, where he was asked to take the role. "It's an opportunity to take a step forward and I appreciate the confidence that the Community Electric Cooperative board has taken for giving me this opportunity," Harmon said. Looking back on what he has been most proud of at OPS, Harmon said he will be looking from afar regarding the fiber-to-the-home network project the city of Opelika is undertaking, which will fully deploy smart grid along with telecommunications that include video, ultra-high speed internet and telephone service. The system is currently being tested and will launch within the next few weeks. "It's really futuristically and proactively minded," Harmon said. In addition, Harmon said he will miss the Opelika community that quickly embraced him when he first arrived and that he will be grateful for the great relationships he started in Opelika. "The warmth of the community has been fabulous," Harmon said. In a written statement, Mayor Gary Fuller said he has enjoyed working with Harmon over the past eight months and that he will miss him. "He has played an important role in the construction of our fiber project as well as the building of our new Opelika Power Services facilities on Fox Run Parkway," Fuller said. "I wish him the very best." Before coming to Opelika, Harmon previously served as CEO of H2 Business Solutions, LLC in Greenville. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president and general manager of Pioneer Electric Cooperative in Greenville. Opelika Power Services has been the primary electric provider for Opelika since 1911. At the time of his hiring, Harmon's annual salary was set at $140,000 per year, making him the city's highest-paid employee. ___ (c)2013 the Opelika-Auburn News (Opelika, Ala.) Visit the Opelika-Auburn News (Opelika, Ala.) at www.oanow.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |