Dick Peffley, who joined the BWL in 1976, was named General Manger by the BWL Board of Commissioners on September 22, 2015. He previously served as Interim General Manager in 2006-2007 and January to September 2015. Peffley also serves as a board member for the Michigan Municipal Electric Association (MMEA).
Peffley’s leadership over the BWL, Michigan’s largest publicly owned utility with approximately 100,000 electric customers and 58,000 water customers, is paving the way to a coal-free cleaner energy future with commitments to an expanded renewable energy portfolio and carbon neutrality.
Peffley’s experience at the BWL is extensive, having served in many capacities in the electric and water utilities. In January 2022, he oversaw contract negotiations between General Motors and Ultium for BWL to provide power for a new battery cell manufacturing plant, a transformational $2.6 billion investment that will support electric vehicle production in Lansing for the next generation. He oversaw the development and construction of the $500 million natural gas-fired Delta Energy Park, and in 2021, successfully renegotiated a coal contract which resulted in $52 million of savings over two years.
Peffley was the project manager for the $182 million natural gas-fired REO Cogeneration Plant and Headquarters which came in on time and on budget in 2013. He was the project manager for the $23 million repair and refurbishment of the Wise Road Water Conditioning Plant following a chemical accident.
Peffley oversaw the completion to remove all lead water service lines in 2016, the second utility in the country to do so, and led the Water Department’s efforts that distributed a record-breaking 1 billion gallons of water in a single month to customers during the heat wave in July 2013. Peffley was also the project manager for the $20 million Chilled Water Plant, which came in on time and on budget, named after his father, BWL retiree Roy E. Peffley.
He previously served as Executive Director of Operations and was Plant Manager at the Erickson Power Station and Eckert Power Station.