Get to know the CEO: Interim CEO and General Manager Todd Brickhouse

Todd Brickhouse was named Basin Electric’s interim chief executive officer and general manager in July. He previously served as the cooperative’s senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO), having taken that position in June 2022.

We asked Brickhouse a few questions so we can get to know him a bit better heading into Basin Electric’s Annual Meeting of the Membership on Aug. 15-16.

What did you know about Basin Electric before you started working here?
I have been working in the utility industry since 2000, and I started reading Basin Electric’s annual report shortly thereafter, so I had a reasonably good understanding of Basin Electric’s assets and financial profile. But reading annual reports will only get you so far, so I’m very grateful to Steve Johnson, my predecessor as CFO who I’ve known for a dozen years. Steve has provided me context around numerous aspects of our business and been a great sounding board.

Has anything surprised you so far about working at Basin Electric?
What I’ve been most pleasantly surprised about are the people. When you’re on the outside looking in, it’s really difficult to understand a culture and the people in the culture. When I got here, I was overwhelmed by the collegiality of our team as well as the hard work they put in.

One sign of cultural strength is teammates being able to tell each other when they are wrong. Being new to Basin Electric, I’ve had some different ideas and perspectives and my colleagues have embraced many of these, but equally important they have been willing to tell me when I’m taking the wrong approach or doing something that has been tried before that did not work out.

I’ve always felt that if you can do meaningful work with people you care about, then the glass starts off at least 75% full every day. We're fortunate with the work we get to do here and our great teammates.

You came to Basin Electric from Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Virginia. Do you talk to your former colleagues there about Basin Electric?
I do. We probably talk about two or three times a month on one issue or another. Some of that is obviously the personal aspect of catching up and sharing life's milestones. We’re fortunate to work in the G&T sector of the utility industry, where people across the sector are willing to share their perspectives and approaches. Recently, I was talking with a former colleague on how they are approaching the New ERA program funding for electric cooperatives We were comparing notes. We couldn’t necessarily talk about the specific approaches of our respective businesses, but we talked about navigating the rules and regulations of those funding programs.

What are you excited about in your work?
I started my career in the financial services industry, and after seven or eight years doing that, I joined the utility business purposefully. We provide an essential service to 3 million member-owners. I think providing reliable and affordable electricity in a safe and environmentally responsible manner is a noble calling.

Of all the Basin Electric events you’ve attended and facilities you’ve visited, what has had the biggest impact on you so far?
All our facilities are impressive. I also see the dedication in our people that safely operate those facilities each day. Although operated by our partner, The Coteau Properties Company, going to the Freedom Mine had a unique impact on me. You walk out there and you’re next to the dragline in the middle of that vast mine, and it gives you a sense of smallness. It’s humbling. What I do here, I am part of something that is much larger than me individually, and that provides me with a sense of purpose because you understand what we accomplish here is not just an individual’s hard work, it is a team effort.

We serve a gigantic service territory. When I was interviewing for the chief financial officer role at Basin Electric, someone asked me, ‘What jumps out to you here?’ I said, ‘You look at Basin on a map, and you go wow!’ I think we don’t have another asset in the Basin Electric portfolio like the Freedom Mine where you go stand in the middle of that thing and you go wow! This is gigantic. I think that one asset is emblematic of our entire service territory.