Contact:
Tracy Warren, NRECA
703-907-5746
Mobile: 703-517-3411

ARLINGTON, VA, JUNE 30, 2010 – John Cassady and Christine Heggem have joined the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) to represent the interests of rural electric co-ops and their consumers on Capitol Hill.

John Cassady comes to NRECA the Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc, the statewide association from Ohio’s cooperatives, where he served as for a decade a Director of Government Affairs. At OREC, Cassady created a state PAC for Ohio’s electric cooperatives and developed a statewide grassroots advocacy network of over 30,000 members.

Cassady served as a legislative aide to Deborah Pryce (R-OH) from 1998 to 2000. He received his law degree from Capital University Law School in 2005, an MA in Telecommunications from Southern Illinois University and a BA from DePauw University in 1991.

Christine Heggem, a Montana native, comes to NRECA from mCapitol Management, a DC-based lobbying firm. As Vice President, with a portfolio that included corporate and municipal clients, Heggem lobbied on a wide range of issues including energy, transportation, appropriations, homeland security and health care.

Heggem worked for the Senate Appropriations Committee from 2006-2008 and for Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) from 2000 to 2006. Heggem, a Montana native, received an MS in Applied Economics from Montana State University, where she also received a BS in Agriculture Business Administration in 1996.

NRECA is the national service organization for more than 900 rural electric utilities that provide electricity to approximately 42 million consumers in 47 states and sell approximately twelve percent of all electric energy sold in the United States. Most NRECA members are consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives.

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