Basin Electric's Paul Sukut talks about his time at the cooperative

Paul Sukut, fifth CEO and general manager of Basin Electric, retired in 2021 after 38 years working for the cooperative. He continues on at Basin Electric in a consultant role, and takes opportunities to remind employees about the purpose of Basin Electric.

“Never forget why you are here. We are here for our member systems, we are here for the people who own us. Our mission in life is to deliver the best product at the least possible cost,” he says. “We work hard here to come up with and make good business decisions, decisions that are beneficial to the membership.”

Paul Sukut
Sukut testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in support of the bipartisan Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies, or USE IT Act, in February 2019.

He says the decisions he made at his desk, and those that came to the board table, were never easy, but the cooperative business model and principles give both staff and directors a solid foundation to lean on. “One thing you have to learn about a cooperative like ours is it’s so big that sometimes you benefit and somebody else doesn’t, and the next time the one that didn’t benefit does, and this one doesn’t,” he says. “It is a constant give and take.”

Read about Sukut's career highlights, mentors, and more in the Fall 2021 issue of Basin Today magazine: Basin Electric's Paul Sukut retires after 38 years at the cooperative

Sukut gave a presentation on the history of Basin Electric during the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Cooperative. Watch the video, along with other presentations from the annual meeting held on Nov. 10.

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