Bishop takes over helm of Midwest Electric

Lots and lots of things went by the wayside after the COVID-19 pandemic struck the U.S.

One event after another ended up being cancelled. Amongst the many was this year’s annual meeting of the Midwest Rural Electric Cooperative.

This year’s meeting would have recognized a passing of the torch. Fifteen-year employee Jayson Bishop was named as the new manager, taking over for Larry Umberger, who was retiring from the position at Midwest after 15 years.

In interviews this week, Umberger reflected on his career and the past 15 years at Midwest as Bishop recounted his experiences and what the future going forward holds for Midwest and the electric utilities industry.

Career paths

Umberger’s utilities career began in 1992 after obtaining his Associates Degree in electrical construction from Mitchell Technical College in Mitchell, South Dakota.

He joined Northwestern Public Service Company, with his first assignment in Avon, S.D.

Northwestern, which would later become NorthWest Energy, serves natural gas customers in Nebraska and gas and electrical customers in Montana and South Dakota.

In 2000, he took a position  in Kearney, Nebraska managing NorthWestern’s natural gas locations in North Platte, Kearney and Grand Island. 

He joined Midwest as its new manager in 2005.

December 2002 proved to be a busy time for Bishop. He graduated from UNL with a computer engineering degree, got married and moved to Ogallala to start a new job with Prophet Systems. 

Meanwhile his wife, Deanne, began student teaching at South Platte Schools in Big Springs. 

The following May, she got the high school science teacher job at Perkins County Schools and the couple moved back to Grant. 

Midwest first implemented a load control system in the 1980s but didn’t have the success they expected. 

Fifteen years ago, they were considering a new system that would offer both load control and remote metering and wanted someone with computer experience to manage it. 

Midwest approached Bishop about running it. “I thought it would be an interesting challenge,” Bishop said. And the die was cast. 

One of the valuable experiences in that role, he said, was working closely with farmers in helping them manage their irrigation energy use as efficiently and cost effective as possible.

Those savings represent money that stays within the Midwest service territory, he added. 

Over the years, Bishop’s contributions to Midwest would grow. “I’ve kind of been fortunate enough to be in on a little bit of this and that kind of all along,” he said. 

Last year, with Umberger looking at retirement, the board sent Bishop to a management internship program through the National Rural Electric Association.

After Umberger set his retirement date for April 4, 2020, the board offered the position to Bishop. 

Umberger’s tenure was cut just short of 15 years, with his last day moved up slightly due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Irrigation the driving force

Both Umberger and Bishop acknowledged powering irrigation represents the lifeblood of Midwest. 

Bishop said when he came on board, Midwest serviced around 1,500 wells. 

Over time, more and more wells were converted from diesel or natural gas. Today, the number of irrigation wells serviced by Midwest totals 2,064, which represents about 90 percent of the wells in Midwest’s territory.

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