The Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives’ (AIEC) board of directors held a reorganizational meeting on July 31, directly following the AIEC’s 2026 annual meeting, and unanimously elected Rebecca Barlow as its new board chairman. She is the first woman to hold this position.
Barlow grew up and resides south of Clayton where she owns and operates the Red Bird Inn Bed and Breakfast, which is the old farmstead of her paternal grandparents. She joined the board of Adams Electric Cooperative in 2009 and was chosen to serve on the AIEC board in 2017. In her spare time, Becky can be found working in her flowerbed and taking care of her two mini horses, Skippy and Tony, and her black standardbred horse Postal.
Rick Rubenacker, a sixth-generation grain farmer in southern Illinois and a representative of Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative on the AIEC board, ended his two-year term as chairman of the AIEC board. The AIEC thanks Rubenacker for his dedication and service as board chairman.
Rounding out AIEC board leadership elections include JCE Co-op’s David Senn as vice chairman, McDonough Power Cooperative’s Mike Cox as secretary and EnerStar Electric Cooperative’s Kevin Julian as treasurer.
