Jeff Householder, President
Thomas A. Geoffroy, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & Business Planning
Jeff Sylvester, Vice President Customer Care
Kevin Webber, Vice President of Business Development and Gas Operations
Barry Kennedy, Director, Gas Operations
Cheryl Martin, Director of Florida Accounting
P. Mark Cutshaw, General Manager, Northeast Division
Drane (Buddy) Shelley, General Manager, Northwest Division
Devon Rudloff, Director of Human Resources
Aleida Socarras, Director of Marketing and Sales
Guilly Perea, Director of Customer Service
Director of Human Resources
Throughout her career, Devon has been immersed in the development and improvement
of people to bolster their workplace performance. With a resume that reads like the
classic step-
Economics Program teaching 8th Graders basic life skills. Her community involvement
also included in-
University.
In a testament to her own value as an employee, Devon spent her entire career (up
until we grabbed her) within the confines of virtually every division of TECO Energy:
from TECO Peoples Gas to TECO Solutions to TECO Tampa Electric. Her goals with us
are to further enhance and improve the working environment at the new Florida Public
Utilities by helping us develop our Core Values and be that bridge between all layers
of employees within the company. We're indeed lucky to have someone who knows how
to work as team member -
Drane (Buddy) Shelley
General Manager, Northwest Division
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Buddy Shelley joined Florida Public Utilities as the NW Division's Operations Manager in December of 2006. He then accepted the position of General Manager of the NW Division in March of 2009.
Headquartered in Marianna, Florida, the NW Division provides electrical service to Calhoun, Liberty and Jackson County residents.
Prior to joining FPU, Buddy worked for Alpha Engineering Inc. as a Senior Consulting Engineer. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from Murray State University.
Buddy is a member of the Marianna Rotary Club and is active in the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. Buddy has been a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) since 1979.
P. Mark Cutshaw
General Manager, Northeast Division
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In the general scope of the “providing the populace with power” industry, most employees have to specialize in at least one discipline… while being flexible and proficient in many others. Mark Cutshaw fits that description to the letter.
Mark achieved his designation as an Electrical Engineer by virtue of his Bachelors
Degree from Auburn University -
His first trek within the utilities industry was with Mississippi Power in 1982 as an Electrical Distribution Engineer. He didn’t wander too far from the roost on his next step when he was appointed General Manager of the Northwest Florida Division of Florida Public Utilities Company in Mariana, Florida. His daily workload expanded, however, to include engineering, operations, customer service, financial and regulatory activities.
But it gets better – with the title comes the politics – so Mark had to establish himself locally with involvement in many civic, charitable and industrial boards – which soon thrust him into the midst of the Economic Development Board of Jackson County. That experience proved beneficial for all as he was key effort in bringing a large distribution center to Mariana – generating a significant increase in the number of jobs in an otherwise economically suppressed area.
From the hills of Greenville, Tennessee to the Coastal Waters of Panama City, to the cozy confines of life with six children in Fernandina Beach, Mark is now the General Manager of the Northeast Florida Division of Florida Public Utilities Corporation. And, with that new title, comes even more contact with the Yulee Chamber of Commerce, City Commissions, County Board of Commissioners and the Florida Public Service Commission. Just another day at the office.
What that really means is that Mark keeps the lights on for the fine folks of Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island – and we’re glad to have him on board.
Cheryl Martin
Director of Florida Accounting
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As Director of Florida Accounting at Florida Public Utilities, Cheryl is responsible for the Accounting and the Office Services Departments. Cheryl began her career at Florida Public Utilities in 1985, advancing through a series of roles in accounting, including serving as a general, tax and regulatory accountant. She was promoted to Assistant Corporate Accounting Manager in April 1989, assumed the leadership of Corporate Accounting in June 1995 and was named Controller in January 2002. In July 2010 Cheryl was named the Director of Florida Accounting.
Barry Kennedy
Director, Gas Operations
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When your title is Director of Gas Operations, it’s a pretty good bet you have a wide variety of issues to deal with, in a myriad of disciplines, on a daily basis. Barry Kennedy brings a whole raft of experiences to the FPU table everyday in order to handle his extraordinarily diverse “to do list.”
So where did Barry go to College? Barry University in Miami, of course. Once all the coeds discovered that, in fact, the college was not named after him, he decided he’d better hurry up and get his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management and, ultimately, his first real job.
He landed in the gas industry with Public Gas Company in Orlando, Florida in 1984.
His initial foray into the gas world was the management of propane sales, installation,
service, delivery and related clerical functions. In other words, Barry was a Jack-
Extending his career with Peoples Gas in Jacksonville, Florida, Barry has been in the thick of Union Negotiations, Budget Creation, Team Building, Franchise Negotiations, Conflict Resolution and Employee Development since 1989.
In 2004 he got the call from Florida Public Utilities and was ushered into the company as Director of Propane Operations. His talents were quickly exposed and in 2005 he was named General Manager of South Florida Operations and upon our merger in 2010, is officially our Director of Gas Operations.
Kevin Webber
Vice President of Business Development and Gas Operations
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Kevin Webber has joined Florida Public Utilities as Vice President of Business Development and Gas Operations. In this position, he manages the natural gas and propane operations across the state. He is also responsible for the business development activities including marketing, sales and energy conservation activities for both the gas and electric business units.
Kevin is well known and very active in the industry, and brings a wealth of knowledge
and experience in both gas and electric utility management. For the past twelve years
Kevin has served in several capacities within the TECO Energy organization. He was
General Manager of TECO Partners (a non-
Jeff Sylvester
Vice President Customer Care
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Behind every efficiently operating, customer-
Prior to FPU’s merger with Central Florida Gas, Jeff was, almost but not quite simultaneously, CFG’s Assistant Regional Manager (under Tom Geoffroy), General Manager of Peninsula Energy Services Company (PESCO), Director of Business Analysis and Director of Information Technology for Chesapeake Utilities Corporation.
Prior to joining Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, Central Florida Gas’ and FPU’s
parent company, Jeff held various finance roles at Plantronics, GTE Data Services,
and ThruPoint (a start-
Thomas A. Geoffroy
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & Business Planning
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Tom graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting in 1982. After a short stint working for a small CPA firm, Tom began his career in the natural gas industry with Gainesville Gas Company (GGC) in April 1983, initially working as an Accountant. As Tom’s career progressed, he held many management positions at GGC including the Customer Service, Information Systems and Accounting departments. In 1990, the City of Gainesville (Gainesville Regional Utilities or GRU) acquired the assets of GGC and Tom became the Gas System Operations Director for GRU for six years. While at GRU, Tom was active in the Florida Municipal Natural Gas Association (FMNGA) as a Board member and as President of that Association.
In 1996, Tom joined Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (CUC) as the Florida Regional Manager, in charge of all of CUC’s Florida operations. In 1996, CUC had Florida distribution facilities and customers in three counties; by 2008, CUC was active in fourteen counties. Tom has also directed the transportation activities of CUC, becoming the first utility in Florida to fully unbundle its distribution system and develop rate structures based on annual consumption.
Tom has been active with both the Associated Gas Distributors of Florida (AGDF) and
the Florida Natural Gas Association as a Board member of each organization, President
of AGDF for six years (1998-
Tom was actively involved with the merger with Florida Public Utilities Company (FPUC), which took place in October 2009. Tom is currently the Vice President – Chesapeake, Vice President – Peninsula Pipeline Company, Inc. and Vice President – Regulatory Affairs & Business Planning for FPUC and is responsible for all natural gas and electric regulatory activities, and business planning functions for all Florida business segments.
Tom is married to his wife Donna, and has two children, Zach and Matt. Tom enjoys playing golf, swimming and other sports, and spending time with his family.
Jeff Householder
President
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June 14, 2010, Jeff Householder was appointed President of Florida Public Utilities
Company, Chesapeake's wholly-
With over twenty-
For the past ten years, Jeff has operated a consulting practice that provided business development and regulatory services to utilities, propane retailers and industrial clients. Prior to starting his consulting business, Jeff served in officer level positions with TECO Peoples Gas, West Florida Natural Gas and NUI City Gas. Jeff also spent several years in various roles with the electric and gas utilities operated by Tallahassee Utilities. Jeff is a graduate of Florida State University.