CEC chief Powell dies of sudden heart attack

C. Lane Powell, president and chief executive officer of Central Electric Cooperative, Inc. since March 1977, died form an apparent heart attack Sunday, October 27, while visiting his parents in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Powell, who grew up in Shreveport, was 58.

Loy Peterson, chairman of the Central Electric board of directors, said that the day-to-day operations of the co-op will be directed by the existing four person senior staff. He indicated that the board of directors would hold a special meeting sometime this week.

"Lane's loss is a tremendous shock to the board and certainly to the employees who worked with him on a daily basis for so many years," Peterson said. "He would expect us to carry on the work of the co-op in an orderly, forward manner and we will do exactly that."

After studying electrical engineering Centenary College in New Orleans, Powell served in the U.S. Army before attending the University of Oregon's School of Business Administration. He began his career in public power at the Springfield Utility Board and later became operations manager at Salem Electric before becoming general manager at Central Electric, which is headquartered in Redmond.

Powell, who is survived by his parents, two brothers, twosons, a daughter, and two grandchildren, had been a resident of Bend since 1983. He was a member of the board of directors of the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative in Portland and served as its president from 1992 through 1994. He also served on a variety of other industry boards and committees.