THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220224
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BUXTON LENGTH: 58 lines
About 16 months after James Sherfey moved to Hatteras Island to help solve problems at the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative, he has decided to stay.
The co-op's Board of Directors Monday night asked Sherfey to come aboard as their executive vice president and general manager.
Sherfey, 62, has served as Cape Hatteras Electric's interim manager since January 1995. His duties as full-time manager begin immediately.
In his new, permanent position, Sherfey will receive $75,000 annually - about the same salary as he got while acting as manager.
``I'm interested in continuing to be involved with this program,'' Sherfey said Tuesday from his Buxton office. ``We've made a lot of accomplishments in the last 18 months. And there's still a lot of work to do here.''
Sherfey had retired from utility work after serving as chief executive officer for 35 years at power companies in Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida.
He spent about six months ``camping and playing'' before joining Cape Hatteras Electric to help as an interim leader at the southern Outer Banks co-op. His wife still lives in Florida but is planning to movev to Hatteras Island soon, he said.
``We'll maintain homes here and there,'' said Sherfey. ``I want to help this co-op that seems to need my skills.''
A nonprofit cooperative owned by its 3,800 Outer Banks members, Cape Hatteras Electric Membership Co-op has about 20 full-time workers and serves all Hatteras Island homes and businesses.
In October 1994, Cape Hatteras Electric Manager John Echols resigned after less than four months on the job. He said the board was interfering too much in the co-op's daily operations. He also said the utility was overpaying its Danville accounting firm.
Echols released statements showing that the co-op had paid the accountants $434,000 between October 1993 and October 1994. The Board of Directors initially defended its accountants. Then they released an outside audit showing that the accountants had overbilled the co-op by more than $100,000 in a year.
Cape Hatteras Electric's leaders fired the accountants - then filed a $700,000 lawsuit in federal court, claiming that the accountants had overbilled them.
The accountants fought back by filing a $16 million countersuit that said the co-op had unlawfully terminated its contract and tried to defame the accountants. In July, the two parties settled out of court.
Sherfey was hired to straighten out the operation. During his tenure, he has overseen the completion of a 39-mile, 115-kilovolt power transmission line from Oregon Inlet to Buxton, which improved the reliability of electric service for Hatteras Island customers.
He also has installed new system maintenance programs, including pole inspections and replacements and tree-trimming schedules to help prevent outages caused by falling and blowing limbs.
``Jim Sherfey has amply demonstrated his ability as a manager and administrator,'' Cape Hatteras Electric Co-op Board of Directors President Dale Burrus said. ``In the 16 months he has been with us, Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative has made significant progress in meeting the needs of its consumer-members.'' by CNB