Gary Smith was appointed PowerSouth's President and Chief Executive Officer in 2000. He joined PowerSouth as Staff Attorney in 1989. Smith was appointed Director of Legal Affairs in 1991 and Vice President of Legal and Corporate Affairs in 1996. A graduate of the University of North Alabama, he received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics. He earned a juris doctor degree from the Cumberland School of Law.

Horace H. Horn, Jr. serves as PowerSouth’s Vice President of External Affairs. Horn oversees the daily operations of governmental and public affairs in Alabama, Florida and Washington. He also oversees PowerSouth’s internal and external communications, which include print and electronic media, audio/visual, public relations, advertising and social media outlets.

Seth Hammett serves as PowerSouth’s Vice President of Business Development. He oversees the operations of PowerSouth’s member services department, which includes rate development, key accounts management and member education on issues including energy use efficiency, power quality and demand-side management. Hammett also leads PowerSouth’s economic development team, targeting business sectors and industry clusters to recruit businesses to our service territory both nationally and internationally, while working with key personnel to retain existing industry.

Damon Morgan serves as PowerSouth’s Vice President of Power Supply. His areas of oversight encompass plant operations & maintenance, new plant construction, bulk power services and energy resources. His division includes the heart of PowerSouth – our energy control center – as well as management of our energy resources, power purchase contracts and fuel procurement.

Ferrell Walton is PowerSouth’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He oversees the daily operations of the financial services division, which include annual budgeting, accounting, payroll, accounts payable, and cash management. He is responsible for external financial reporting, public credit ratings, long-term debt management and the cooperative’s business insurance programs. Walton also oversees procurement services for the cooperative, as well as building facilities maintenance and warehouse supervision for the headquarter facilities.

Larry Avery serves as Vice President of Power Delivery. He oversees all aspects of PowerSouth’s Transmission and Distribution Division, which includes transmission planning, reliability, engineering, construction, operations and maintenance. Avery also leads the telecommunication services, information systems, corporate real estate/land management and fleet maintenance departments and PowerSouth’s Customer Response Center.

Beth Woodard serves as Vice President of PowerSouth’s Legal and Corporate Affairs division. Her oversight encompasses PowerSouth’s legal affairs, as well as application for and handling of economic development funding. She leads the human resources division and safety team. Woodard also manages the environmental services department, which includes environmental compliance and sciences for all PowerSouth’s generation and operations facilities.

Rick Kyle serves as Director of Financial Operations. He works hand-in-hand with our Chief Financial Officer on annual budgeting, financial accounting, payroll, accounts payable, cash management and reporting. Kyle manages PowerSouth’s financial planning team, overseeing the development of the cooperative’s annual budget, financial forecast, annual public credit rating presentations and Rural Utilities Service construction loan packages. He is also responsible for overseeing the business insurance program for the cooperative.