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MARQUETTE, MI — Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) announced today that utility industry veteran James Larsen has been appointed as its new CEO, effective April 3. Larsen comes to UPPCO from the SEMCO Energy Gas Company in Port Huron, where he served as President. SEMCO provides natural gas to approximately 290,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across the state’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas.
“Jim knows exactly what it takes to safely and efficiently run a utility across a large service area like UPPCO’s,” said UPPCO Board Chairman Rob Gregor. “His depth and breadth of experience will ensure that UPPCO can continue to deliver safe, reliable energy to our customers.”
Mr. Larsen spent 17 years at SEMCO, where he held a number of positions before being appointed President in 2010. Before joining SEMCO, Mr. Larsen held a series of engineering and operational management positions over 10 years at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) near Saratoga, NY. KAPL, which was operated by GE and Lockheed Martin, is responsible for the design, testing and training of U.S. Navy nuclear reactors. Mr. Larsen also successfully completed Navy Nuclear Power School (Officer Class), graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree (Mechanical Engineering) from Clarkson University, and received a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Colorado.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to continue to serve the people of the Upper Peninsula,” Larsen said. “My focus has always been on employee and customer satisfaction and I look forward to building relationships with the residents and businesses we serve.”
UPPCO serves approximately 54,000 retail customers located in 10 of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan’s 15 counties and owns and operates 9 generation facilities. More information is available at www.UPPCO.com.
