CRPUD GM John Nguyen will Stay On After Retirement

Deer Island, OR – August 19, 2019 – At their August 13 meeting, the Columbia River PUD Board of Directors voted to retain John Nguyen’s services as General Manager following his recent announcement that he would retire at the end of November 2019.

In July, Nguyen explained his decision to retire was in response to changes being implemented by the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System (PERS), which go into effect January 1, 2020.

At the time of his retirement announcement, Nguyen asked the Board to consider retaining his services as General Manager to help complete several large projects already in process, including the new Enterprise System conversion, the implementation of Demand charges, and the construction of the PUD’s 10th substation.

After discussion, the Board agreed to rehire Nguyen as General Manager for a one-year term beginning December 1, 2019, with an option to extend Nguyen’s employment at a future date.

“We have had pretty smooth sailing here the last three years. It’s been nice. I just want to thank you,” said Board Member Craig Melton. “You put us in a comfort zone, you did. And the Board’s process is to find the next comfort zone. We’ve still got a year. We’re going to cram you tight and put a lot of projects in front of you. I thank you for everything you did for us.”

Nguyen thanked the Board for its decision to hire him back after retirement.

“I just want to express my appreciation that the Board considered giving me an additional year so that I can help finish up some of the projects that we’ve been working on,” Nguyen said. “I’ll do my best to get those projects at least close to finished. Thank you.”

Nguyen has been with CRPUD since 1987, holding various roles including IT Manager and Special Projects Manager. He has served as the utility’s General Manager since 2015.