The Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative’s board of directors announced Les Penning has been selected for the position of general manager.

A South Dakota native with formal education in industrial technology and business, Penning will arrive in early December to replace Werner Buehler, who after nine years serving as General Manager of the co-op and 46 years in the electrical utility industry, announced his plans for retirement beginning January 2017, according to a press release from the cooperative.

“We are happy to welcome Les into his new role with (the cooperative),” said Board President George Galloway. “It’s been a long, competitive vetting process and Les brings 22 years of leadership experience with 16 years of senior utility leadership to the table.”

Penning most recently served as the chief operations officer and deputy general manager for Powder River Energy Corporation, a transmission and distribution cooperative with 140 employees, serving 28,000 meters, in Wyoming and Montana.

Penning said in the release he is excited to serve as the manager.