George Ellis Retires From ARIPPA, Jaret Gibbons Named New Executive Director

George Ellis will retire as the Executive Director of the Appalachian Region Independent Power Producers Association at the end of March after serving in this role since 2015.

The organization has accomplished much during that time and a lot of credit goes to Ellis for his dedicated efforts and service.

ARIPPA President Gary Anderson commented, “On behalf of myself and the entire ARIPPA organization, I want to thank George for his leadership during his two and a half years as our Executive Director. We will all miss George, but are happy for him and his wife Lora as they move forward on their next journey.”

Prior to ARIPPA, Ellis served as president of the PA Coal Association starting in 1996.

Ellis joined the former Keystone Bituminous Coal Association in 1982 as executive vice president for government affairs and continued in that capacity following KBCA’s merger with the Pennsylvania Coal Mining Association to form PCA in 1988.

Prior to joining the association, Ellis served as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ Mines & Energy Management Committee.  Ellis graduated from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Jaret Gibbons

The Board of Directors has hired Jaret Gibbons to serve as the next Executive Director of ARIPPA effective April 1.

Gibbons is an attorney who brings a decade of experience as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He served in the House Coal Caucus and on the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Jaret was the House prime sponsor and instrumental in the passage of the Pennsylvania Coal Refuse Energy and Reclamation Tax Credit, which ARIPPA successfully advocated to include in the 2016 state budget.

Anderson said, “We are all excited to have Jaret as our new Executive Director to lead the organization forward in meeting our industry challenges. We look forward to working with Jaret as we build upon these past successes at ARIPPA to sustain and grow our industry’s coal refuse remediation and energy production efforts that benefit Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas.”

Organized in 1989, ARIPPA is a nonprofit trade association comprised of independent electric power producers, environmental remediators, and service providers located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia that use coal refuse as a primary fuel to generate electricity.

For more information, visit the Appalachian Region Independent Power Producers Association website.