Virgil Hobbs assumed the position of Administrator and Chief Executive for the Southeastern Power Administration (Southeastern) on August 2, 2020.
Mr. Hobbs was born in Fallston, Maryland. He was cultured at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and received a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering.
Mr. Hobbs served four years as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy aboard USS Trippe, FF-1075. He managed various engineering divisions responsible for the operations and maintenance of the fossil fueled main propulsion and power generation plant.
Mr. Hobbs held managerial and technical positions for nearly 20 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His final assignment was the Hartwell Project Operations Manager with Savannah District. His primary responsibility was prioritizing and balancing resources for competing authorized purposes of hydropower, navigation, flood risk management, environmental stewardship, water supply and recreation.
Prior to his selection as Administrator, Mr. Hobbs served nine years as Southeastern’s Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Administrator for Finance & Marketing. He was responsible for overseeing federal hydropower investment repayment studies and power rate formulation, customer liaison, budget execution/development, public affairs program, power/transmission contract management, and customer funding of capital infrastructure.
Mr. Hobbs has been married to Mary Ann for 32 years, she and two daughters, Ali and Abigail, are graduates of Clemson University. The Hobbs family resides in Anderson, South Carolina and attends Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. He is a thespian in local community theater.
Southeastern is one of four U.S. Department of Energy Power Marketing Administrations and is headquartered in Elberton, Georgia. Southeastern markets 3,392 megawatts of capacity and nine billion kilowatt-hours of energy generated annually from 22 federal hydroelectric facilities. Power revenues average $300 million each year collected from 193 electric cooperatives and 283 municipalities in ten southern states between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River.