Marc S. Gerken, P.E., has served as president and chief executive officer of American Municipal Power (AMP) since February 2000, having started with the organization in January 1998 as vice president of business and operations. AMP is the wholesale power supplier and services provider for 128 municipal electric systems in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Gerken began his career as an engineer working extensively in the public sector on infrastructure projects including transportation, water, wastewater and storm water improvements.

In 1990, he was hired as city engineer in the public power community of Napoleon, Ohio. In 1995, he was named city manager. In that capacity, Gerken served as a member of the AMP Board of Trustees. While on the AMP Board, Gerken chaired the committee overseeing construction of the 42 MW Belleville Hydroelectric Plant.

Gerken is currently serving as Chair of the American Public Power Association Board of Directors, and is a member of the 10-member APPA Board Executive Committee. In addition, Gerken serves on the Board of Directors for Public Power, Inc. and Hometown Connections, a utility services subsidiary of APPA, and is a member of the organization’s CEO Climate Change Task Force. He was part of the APPA Public Power in the 21st Century Task Force, is a frequent presenter at APPA meetings and an active participant in Joint Action Agency working groups. He has testified before congressional committees on wholesale power market issues twice and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Transmission Access Policy Study Group (TAPS).

Under Gerken’s leadership, AMP is currently embarking on an aggressive generation asset development effort designed to reduce member overexposure to the volatile wholesale market. The effort includes the development of more than 1,600 MW of new generation, which includes more than 350 MW of new run-of-the-river hydro, a proposed 1,000 MW clean coal generation facility and participation in the Prairie State Energy Campus project.

A graduate of the University of Dayton with a B.S. in civil engineering, Gerken is a registered professional engineer in Ohio and Florida. He and his wife, Marsha, have two children.