BATON ROUGE - The DEMCO Board of Directors named a new CEO on Friday.

Mark Phillips, the new CEO, has more than 25 years of experience at DEMCO, with a career focused on electric utility operations, system planning, and infrastructure development, the company said.

"Most recently serving as DEMCO’s Chief Engineering and Operations Officer, Phillips led the department responsible for planning, maintaining, and advancing the cooperative’s electric system," a release said.

Phillips succeeds their previous CEO, Randy Pierce, who was in that role for eight years.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to continue serving DEMCO, our members, and the employees who power this organization every day,” said Phillips. “I look forward to building on the progress we have made, strengthening our cooperative, and making decisions that support reliability, affordability, innovation, and the long-term needs of our members.”