Aces Power Marketing LLC

Rick Thomas serves as Chief Executive Officer of the statewide organizations serving North Carolina's electric cooperatives. These organizations include North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation, a generation and transmission cooperative; North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives, a trade association; The Tarheel Electric Membership Association, a central purchasing and materials supply cooperative; and GreenCo Solutions, Inc., a service company to assist the state's electric cooperatives in the development and implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Mr. Thomas has served the North Carolina electric cooperatives for over thirteen years in various capacities, including finance, power supply, information technologies and strategic planning. Prior to moving to North Carolina, Thomas held several positions with cooperatives in Texas, including Executive Vice President and General Manager of Northeast Texas Electric Cooperative in Longview, Texas. He is a native of Texas, a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University, and a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Thomas is a Director on the ACES Power Marketing Board of Managers. Back to top

Steve Smith has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, since January of 1994, after serving 18 years in senior management positions. Steve participates in numerous industry-related organizations including recently serving on the EPRI Board of Directors and as past President of the National G&T Managers Association. Steve earned both a bachelor's degree and MBA degree from Indiana University.

Jeff is the Senior Vice President & Chief Risk Officer of ACES Power Marketing, headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. Jeff has been in the energy industry throughout his career with experience in the areas of risk management, trading control, credit, contract administration, finance, power supply planning, financial planning, and accounting. As a Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Walker served as Controller and then Planning & Finance Manager for one of the nation's cooperative power suppliers. Jeff joined ACES Power Marketing in February of 1999, and led the design and development of its risk management capabilities to address the wide range of risks facing today's energy suppliers. Jeff is responsible for ACES Power Marketing's middle office, which includes the management of quantitative analysis, trading control, credit risk management, contract administration, and corporate development. In addition to being a CPA, Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Indiana University. Jeff has been active on the Committee of Chief Risk Officers since 2002, and was elected to the CCRO's board of directors in 2003. Mr. Walker's years of energy supply experience, combined with his expertise in finance and risk control, give him a unique perspective on the risk management needs of energy suppliers.

Joe Slater has been President and CEO of Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SMECO) since 2002. SMECO is a $500-million electric utility serving 150,000 members in Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's and southern Prince George's Counties. SMECO operates 4 offices, employing 500, and is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors. Mr. Slater also worked for SMECO from 1979 to 1995, rising to the position of Senior Vice President. He reported directly to the President and CEO of SMECO and was responsible for all principal administrative, financial, accounting, information technology, purchasing, retail rate and regulatory functions, and customer service operations supporting the successful operation of the then 105,000-member utility. Mr. Slater managed a professional, technical, and clerical staff of 90. From August of 1997 to January of 2000, Mr. Slater was CEO and General Manager of Tideland EMC, in Pantego, NC. In this position, he had overall management and leadership responsibility for a $47 million diversified electric utility serving 21,000 members in eastern/coastal North Carolina. Tideland operates 4 offices in 6 counties, employs 75 people, and is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors. Mr. Slater worked for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) in Arlington, VA, from January of 2000 to December of 2002, as a Vice President responsible for delivery of all national industry training programs, professional conferences, meetings, consulting services, executive search, new cooperative development and the national safety accreditation program. He also worked for NRECA from November of 1995 to August of 1997 as Principal, Utility Management Practice, providing on a fee-for-service basis professional consulting to Boards and CEO's at over 60 cooperatives in 27 states, in the areas of corporate financial management, organizational performance, mergers, acquisitions, corporate strategy, and governance. Mr. Slater has a MBA in Finance from George Washington University in Washington, DC, a B.S. in Accounting and Economics from Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV, and an AA from the College of Southern Maryland. He is a graduate of the Management Internship Program, NRECA/University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, as well as Leadership Maryland, Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Annapolis, MD, 1994.

Anthony J. Ahern is the president and chief executive officer of Buckeye Power, Inc. and the Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. He was named to these positions in August 2002. He joined Buckeye in 1993 as vice-president of engineering and power supply. Before joining Buckeye he had 17 years of service with the American Electric Power Service Corporation working in the power generation and environmental areas and six years with Babcock & Wilcox primarily with sulfur dioxide scrubbers. Mr. Ahern serves as a Director on the ACES Power Marketing Board of Managers and is a member of the APM Strategic Planning Committee.

Michael W. Price was named chief operating officer (COO) of Oglethorpe Power Corporation in February 2000. He previously served as COO of Georgia System Operations Corporation (GSOC), one of three companies formed in the restructuring of Oglethorpe Power in March 1997. Before assuming the COO position, Mr. Price was Vice President, System Planning and Construction, for Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC), another of the companies formed in the 1997 restructuring. An Alabama native, Mr. Price holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and has completed postgraduate work in marketing, accounting and finance at Georgia State University. He serves on the Board of Directors of Southeastern Federal Power Customers, Inc., the Board of Managers of ACES Power Marketing, the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the Advisory Board of Garrard Construction.

Mr. Core is past chairman of the East Central Area Reliability Council (ECAR) and past president of the National G&T Managers Association. He is also a past president of the Rural Electric Statewide Managers Association. Mr. Core is a Director on the ACES Power Marketing Board of Managers and a member of the APM Strategic Planning Committee. Back to top

R. Wayne Stratton has been a Shelby Energy Director since 1987. He serves the Cooperative District I that encompasses Shelby County. Mr. Stratton serves as Chairman of the Board for East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC), Shelby Energy's power supplier. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in accounting. Mr. Stratton is a Certified Public Accountant; a partner in the accounting firm of Jones, Nale and Mattingly; and serves on the boards of Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority, Kentucky Student Loan Corporation, Republic Bank & Trust Company, Shelby County Industrial Authority, Kentucky Society of CPA's Legislation Committee, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and serves as chairman of the East Kentucky Power Cooperative Board.

Previously, Mr. Bryant managed the design and construction of three 447-megawatt coal-fired generating units including switchyard, railroad and reservoir. He was responsible for 1,300 megawatts of coal-fired and hydro electric generating plants; 1,100 miles of 115 kV to 345 kV transmission lines; 45 substations; coal supply negotiations and contract administration. Mr. Bryant is the recipient of the Electric Power Research Institute's First Use Award for Post-Combustion Particulate Removal for Application of Fabric Filter "Baghouse" to Coal-fired Generating Units. Mr. Bryant is a graduate of the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has worked for consumer-owned utilities for more than 35 years. Mr. Bryant is a Director on the ACES Power Marketing Board of Managers. Back to top

Thomas A. Smith is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Oglethorpe and has served in that capacity since September 1999. He previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Oglethorpe from September 1998 to August 1999, Senior Financial Officer from 1997 to August 1998, Vice President, Finance from 1986 to 1990, Manager of Finance from 1983 to 1986 and Manager, Financial Services from 1979 to 1983. From 1990 to 1997, Mr. Smith was Senior Vice President of the Rural Utility Banking Group of CoBank, where he managed the bank's eastern division, rural utilities. Mr. Smith is a Certified Public Accountant, has a Master of Science degree in Industrial Management-Finance from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Master of Science degree in Analytical Chemistry from Purdue University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and Chemistry from Catawba College. Mr. Smith is a Director of ACES Power Marketing and is APM's Treasurer, Chairman of the APM Risk Oversight and Audit Committee and a member of the APM Compensation Committee. Mr. Smith is also a Director of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Smith previously served as a director of En-Touch Systems, Inc. from 2001 to 2006 and a member of the NERC Stakeholders Committee from 2005-2006. In 2003, Mr. Smith was a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Back to top