David Leathers

David Leathers, longtime Jamestown Board of Public Utilities general manager, will retire in January.

Leathers has been the BPU’s general manager since March 2008 and, before that appointment, had served as interim general manager and deputy general manager for the electric division. He began working for the BPU in December 2005.

The BPU’s board will begin a search for a new general manager.

“Dave Leathers has been an outstanding leader of the BPU, the New York Association of Public Power and the American Public Power Association,” said Lana Huston, BPU board personnel committee chairwoman. “He has led our organization admirably with wisdom, integrity and intelligence, always keeping the well-being of our customers and our employees as his top priority. He will be sorely missed.”

Leathers is president of the New York Association of Public Power and is a member of the American Public Power Association (APPA) national board, executive committee and CEO Climate Change & Generation Policy Committee. In 2020, the APPA named Leathers one of two recipients of its national Mark Crisson Leadership and Managerial Excellence Award, which honors two managers annually from 2,000 American public power electric companies.

In his previous NYAPP role, Leathers was honored by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) as one of two primary NYAPP leaders participating in the negotiations between NYPA, NYAPP and the Municipal Electric Utilities Association of New York State. His work helped to secure a new, long-term contract extension with NYPA for hydropower commitments through September 2040, on behalf of the organizations and the municipal and cooperative electric customers of New York state.

In Jamestown, Leathers volunteers as co-president of the Jamestown Center City Development Corporation (Northwest Arena) Board of Directors. He was honored as JCC Alumnus of the Year in 2017 and as the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year in 2009. A Chautauqua Leadership Network graduate, Leathers is a former board member of the Manufacturers’ Association of the Southern Tier. He and his wife, Shelly, reside in Jamestown. The couple has two grown children and two grandchildren.