SRP President John M. Williams Will Not Seek Second Term

SRP President John Williams announced his retirement and said he would not seek a new term in this spring's election. Williams, who is serving as the 16th president of the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association and the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, has served the company for more than 44 years.

"After a lot of thought, I have made the very difficult decision not to seek re-election for the SRP presidency," Williams said. "After 44 years of dedicated service to SRP, I will retire at the end of my term. It has been an honor and a privilege serving SRP."

Williams was first elected to the SRP Council in 1964. During his tenure, he served 28 years on the Board and Council, 12 years as vice president and four years as president.

Williams has seen many significant changes during his 44 years at SRP, including a customer base that has grown from 125,000 electric customers to about 935,000 today.

During his tenure as president, Williams signed the largest-ever Indian water rights settlement in December 2007; helped SRP expand its sustainable-energy portfolio to approximately 7 percent of the total energy generated, including partnering on the state's first commercial wind farm; and most recently presided over the Big Chino water settlement.

Born July 8, 1927, in Phoenix, Williams graduated from North Phoenix High School in 1945 and then served a two-year stint in the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps. He also attended Phoenix Junior College and Arizona State College at Tempe (now Arizona State University), where he graduated in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture.

Williams was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council in 2008. He is currently a member of the American Public Power Association, Colorado River Water Users Association, National Water Resources Association and a former member of the Phoenix AMA Groundwater Users Advisory Council.

Williams was on the board of Directors Farmers Gin and served on the Farm Services Administration Maricopa County Community Committee and the Farm Services Administration Maricopa County Committee. He is the owner of John M. Williams Farms in Laveen. Williams lives with his wife, Dawnetta, and is the father of four and grandfather of eight.

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