Garrick J. Rochow Named Vice President of Energy Delivery for Consumers Energy

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Sep 28, 2010, 02:00 ET

JACKSON, Mich., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Garrick J. Rochow has been named vice president of energy delivery for Consumers Energy and will have overall responsibility for the engineering and planning for the company's electric and natural gas distribution systems.

In his new role, Rochow will lead the development and execution of plans to maintain, upgrade and expand the distribution systems that provide safe, reliable and affordable energy service to the utility's 2.9 million customers.

Rochow succeeds Richard J. Ford, who became the vice president of generation operations on Sept. 1.

Rochow, whose appointment is effective on Friday, currently serves as the utility's Combustion Turbine Business Manager and is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the 930-megawatt Zeeland plant and other combustion turbine units with a total capacity of up to 400 megawatts. Together, those units can generate enough electricity to serve a community of about 850,000.

Rochow joined Consumers Energy in 2003 and has held several leadership positions, including site production manager at the utility's J.H. Campbell Generating Complex near West Olive.

Rochow will report to Daniel J. Malone, senior vice president of distribution and customer operations.

"Garrick is a proven leader who achieves consistent results through teamwork and working in a collaborative manner. He is a dedicated professional and fully committed to the company's mission of providing safe, reliable and affordable energy service to customers," Malone said.

Rochow began his utility career as an environmental lead at the Holland Board of Public Works and also served as a maintenance superintendent at that municipal utility.

He earned a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering from Michigan Technological University and master's degree in business administration from Western Michigan University.

Stephen T. Wawro, now a manager in the utility's Next Generation operation, will replace Rochow as Combustion Turbine Business Manager. Wawro has 29 years of experience in the operation, maintenance, and management of nuclear and fossil fuel power plants.

Wawro will report to Ford, the new vice president of generation operations. "Steve has a rich background in plant operations and will be a great addition to the generation operations team," Ford said.

Consumers Energy, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), provides natural gas and electricity to nearly 6.5 million of Michigan's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

For more information about Consumers Energy, visit our Website at www.consumersenergy.com

SOURCE Consumers Energy