EWEB Board selects BPA administrator for general manager role
EWEB's elected Board of Commissioners voted in a public meeting on Tuesday, February 3, 2026 to select John Hairston, the current administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), as EWEB’s next general manager.
The vote follows a nationwide search for EWEB’s next general manager. The search started in September, when EWEB’s current general manager, Frank Lawson, announced his retirement after more than a decade in the top leadership position at the utility.
In the weeks ahead, EWEB will negotiate a salary package with Hairston. Pending a successful negotiation, EWEB’s Board of Commissioners will extend a formal offer of employment.
EWEB Commissioners retained an executive recruiter to lead the search through the fall and winter. Eighteen people applied. After conducting screening interviews, the recruiting firm submitted 12 candidates for the Board's consideration. The Board chose seven candidates from this pool for initial interviews, then selected two finalists for additional interviews.
“We saw a very clear picture. We saw a very clear vision from both candidates,” EWEB Commissioner Tim Morris said during Tuesday’s Board meeting. “I think the vision lines up with our mission and vision and values as an organization.”
“The utility would be served well by this individual serving as our next general manager,” EWEB Commissioner John Barofsky said. “Excellent qualifications, excellent experience."
Hairston has served as BPA administrator since January 2021 and works from the agency’s headquarters in Portland. He started his career at the agency in 1991.
BPA is a federal agency that sells power from federally owned hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin to community-owned utilities in the Pacific Northwest, including EWEB. BPA also operates the most high-voltage transmission lines in the Pacific Northwest, serving the entire region. EWEB recently signed a new contract for wholesale power from BPA, which provides about 80% of EWEB’s power supply.
“It's an honor for us to have someone at that level with that degree of integrity interested in this position,” said Lawson, who as EWEB's general manager has worked collaboratively with Hairston. “I have a lot of respect for John Hairston.”
Lawson announced his retirement at a public meeting in August 2025. He originally joined EWEB in 2010 after a 25-year career in which he gained technical and management experience in various areas including engineering, marketing, operations, customer service, sales, and finance. Lawson will retire in the spring of this year, allowing for a smooth transition from one general manager to the next.
