At a special board meeting last night, the Chugach Electric Association Board of Directors appointed Bill Stewart as Chugach's chief executive officer.

Stewart is a 37-year employee of Chugach Electric. He has served in a variety of management positions and spent the past 20 years as a senior executive at Chugach. Among other things, he handled the utility's customer service, information service and administrative functions.

Stewart was named Interim CEO by the board in September 2005. Prior to that he served as general manager of Chugach's Corporate Services Division.

"The board feels Bill is an excellent choice to lead Chugach into the future," said Jeff Lipscomb, Chugach Board Chairman. "He brings special skills and knowledge based on his many years with the utility."

The board appointed Stewart after conducting a nationwide CEO search last year.

In 2005, Chugach had power sales of 2.8 billion kilowatt-hours and $226.9 million in total revenues and non-operating margins. Chugach is the largest electric utility in Alaska, providing power for Alaskans throughout the Railbelt through retail, wholesale and economy energy sales.