Gary Gibson, president and CEO of City Utilities of Springfield since 2019, has announced plans to retire in early 2025.
Under Gibson’s leadership, CU was awarded more than $60 million in grant funding for infrastructure improvements, including an $10 million grant to replace 11.7 miles of natural gas pipelines, completed a fiber expansion project to add more fiber optic broadband services across Springfield, and finalized the master plan for the Lake Springfield area.
Gibson, 55, joined CU while he was a student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 1990. He went on to work in several leadership positions with CU, including as general manager of customer operations and director of the natural gas department. Gibson has also chaired utility organizations, and currently serves on the board of directors for the Energy Authority and is the president-elect of the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield.
“It has been an honor to have worked with such an outstanding group of people and community,” Gibson said in a news release. “Leading the talented employees of City Utilities has been the most enjoyable and gratifying time of my professional career, which has made the decision to retire very difficult. Over the past 34 years, I have loved seeing how CU’s leadership and bold vision has been at the forefront of advancing the quality of life in our community in so many ways.”
While he plans to stay involved in Springfield, Gibson told the Hauxeda that he wants to spend more time with his family in retirement.
During his remaining 10 months as CEO, Gibson’s priority is securing future power supply as power capacity requirements of the Southwest Power Pool increase “substantially.”
“To comply with those, we're going to have to make sure we build some generation, so we're looking at potentially taking care of that and several different fronts,” Gibson said. “We've gone out and looked at, solicited requests for proposals for up to 150 megawatts of solar, we're looking at potentially a 50 megawatt battery supply project and also potentially up to 100 megawatts of natural gas generation.”
Board subcommittee to lead search for next president
Gibson’s last day with CU will be in February 2025, according to the release. The Springfield Board of Public Utilities will establish a subcommittee in the coming months to begin the search for a new president and CEO.
The search process will likely include public engagement opportunities, Gibson said. While he expects the Springfield City Council to provide input, the decision ultimately rests with the utility board.
Gibson expressed confidence in the board — which includes members who served on the board during the last presidential search and former and outgoing leaders of other organizations — to find his successor.
“Gary’s leadership and vision for the utility and our community has been a guiding force that has led the utility to be a premiere public utility,” Kristin Carter, chair of the CU board, said in the release. “Since 2019, our community and utility has weathered many storms and challenges that we came away from stronger because of his leadership.”
