News

Wagoner’s Elam is new GRDA Chairman

Sep 20, 2021

Elam succeeds outgoing Chairman Mike Lewandowski (Afton).

Wagoner City Administrator Dwayne Elam will lead the Grand River Dam Authority Board of Directors as chairman over the next 12 months. He began his tenure when the GRDA Board held its September 16 meeting in Claremore. Elam succeeds outgoing Chairman Mike Lewandowski (Afton). Charles Sublett (Tulsa) will serve as chair-elect during that period.

A member of the GRDA Board since January 2018, Elam represents GRDA’s municipal customers, as the designee for the Oklahoma Municipal Alliance. An Oklahoma native, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah and holds four Class A licenses from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. Elam began his career with the Wagoner Public Works Authority (WPWA) in November 2006. After serving more than 10 years as the Utilities Director he also assumed the dual role of City Administrator in July 2017.

“We are excited to have Dwayne Elam serve as our board chair this year,” said GRDA President/Chief Executive Officer Dan Sullivan. “Chairman Elam brings an in-depth working knowledge of the electric utility business to the table. His counsel is routinely sought by other board members to provide a unique customer perspective to our discussions. We thank him for his dedication to GRDA and his commitment to public power”.

Sublett will serve in the role of Chair-elect for 2021-22.

Sublett was appointed to the GRDA Board by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt in November 2019. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in 1968 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1975. He has practiced law in Oklahoma for over 45 years. A military veteran, Sublett also served five years on active duty with the United States Air Force and another 20-plus years in the reserves.

GRDA is governed by a seven-member board of directors comprised of representatives from each GRDA customer class (municipals, electric cooperatives, and industrials) as well as the GRDA lakes area. Two at-large representatives also sit on the board. Board members serve staggered, five-year terms, with one position opening each year, to ensure continuity.

GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: employees, electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, and efficiency.