BREAKING: New Maui Electric Company President Appointed

Sharon Suzuki. Photo courtesy MECO.

By Wendy Osher

Maui Electric Company has appointed Sharon M. Suzuki as the company’s next president.

Suzuki, whose appointment takes effect on May 1, 2012, fills the post being vacated by the retirement of Ed Reinhardt who steps down after 26 years at the company, 10 of them as president.

Suzuki currently serves as MECO’s manager of renewable energy services.  She has also held positions as Maui Electric manager of customer service, Hawaiian Electric director of customer account services, and residential and commercial/industrial energy efficiency program manager.

“Sharon brings an established record in strategic planning and managing renewable energy programs, customer service operations, integrated resource planning and energy efficiency programs,” said Hawaiian Electric president and CEO, Dick Rosenblum in a statement today.

“Working with our strong operations team,” he said, “Maui Electric will be in good hands under her leadership.”

Once Suzuki becomes president, Reinhardt will remain on board as president emeritus until his official retirement kicks in at the end of June.

“Under Ed’s guidance, Maui Electric has become a global leader in integrating clean energy, with large- scale wind energy, more than 600% growth in solar energy in the last three years and the use of biofuels for power generation,” said Rosenblum.

Rosenblum also credited Reinhardt with encouraging innovative projects for the future such as capturing power plant stack gas to produce algae for biofuels, wave energy, electric vehicles and smart grid initiatives.

Suzuki, meantime, is a Certified Energy Manager, with a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from California State University at Fullerton, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Japanese from the University of Michigan, and is a graduate of Castle High School.

She has also worked in strategic planning and management consulting with Pacific Resources, Inc., Coopers & Lybrand, Arthur Young & Company, Northrop Corporation, and Hughes Aircraft

“Sharon has a collaborative management style and demonstrated ability to understand and address the needs of diverse stakeholders,” said Reinhardt as he joined in the announcement today. “She’s played a key role at Maui Electric and I know she’ll do a great job leading the team,” he said in the statement.

Suzuki said she is “very honored” to be given the opportunity.  “I look forward to working with the Maui Electric team to meet and surpass our goals for clean energy and customer service. With the foundation that Ed has built, we are well on our way,” she said.

***Supporting information courtesy MECO.