When Michael Jennings became president and CEO of the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) last August he brought a blend of engineering discipline, financial insight, and a leadership philosophy shaped throughout his career.
Jennings, who served as interim president since January 2025, is a professional engineer with a degree in corporate finance from Southern New Hampshire University. Jennings joined NHEC in 2019 as director of engineering. He began his career immersed in technical problem-solving. “Starting in engineering I was a problem solver and a doer,” he says. “It was like the math behind things, a systems understanding.”
As he advanced into supervisory and executive roles, he shifted toward a more collaborative approach. “As I’ve matured in leadership roles, you realize you can’t do it all yourself. I’ve moved more toward an empowering role,” he says. “What matters most is operating as a high-trust organization where people feel empowered to make decisions and enjoy their work.”
That perspective fits a member-owned utility serving about 88,000 homes and businesses across rural New Hampshire. With no shareholders and the ability to set its own rates, the utility answers directly to the people it serves. Jennings calls the work both technical and personal. “This is essentially public service,” he says. “We’re working for people. Whether it’s electricity or broadband, these are critical services.”
One of his biggest challenges is navigating cost pressures facing utilities nationwide. “Since the start of COVID, some basic materials have increased 200 to 300 percent,” Jennings says. As a distribution-only utility purchasing power from ISO-New England, NHEC is exposed to price swings it can’t control. The goal, he says, is to limit impacts on members by finding savings elsewhere. “We can source alternative materials or look to other places in the budget. It’s always a balancing act.”
NHEC Board Chair Bill Darcy credits Jennings with helping maintain some of the lowest electric rates in the state while expanding broadband access and modernizing the grid. “He brings sharp strategic insight and a deep commitment to our members and employees,” Darcy says.
Jennings is also watching how artificial intelligence may affect the grid. While New England isn’t seeing the explosive growth of massive data centers compared to regions like Northern Virginia, the trend is accelerating. “AI creates large energy demands. In some areas those demands could match a utility’s entire customer base,” he says.
Jennings lives in Tilton with his wife and their 6-month-old son. A fan of hiking and camping, he admits the newborn stage has shifted his priorities. “Lately I’ve been trying to catch sleep,” he jokes.
