Keeping Up with Craig Barrs

Keeping Current

Catching Up with Craig Barrs

Over his 36-year career with Georgia Power, Craig Barrs held 19 jobs across multiple business functions, including serving as the CEO of Savannah Electric during the process of its integration into Georgia Power. Craig Barrs retired as Executive Vice President of Customer Service and Operations at Georgia Power in 2017 after 36 years of service. When he’s not with his family, Craig spends time giving back to the community and continuing to mentor others. He lives in Atlanta.

He caught up with us from the car on his way to pick up his grandchildren early from school before spending the rest of the day and evening with them.

The following excerpts have been edited for space.

What was your proudest moment at our company?

These days my favorite role is being a granddad. Annie and I have two grandkids, and they live just 15 minutes away from us. The ability to spend time with them —that’s the greatest gift of all.

Annie, my wife of over 41 years, and I have also enjoyed some traveling over these past few years.

I’m involved in two organizations. One is Eagle Ranch, which is an organization that helps families with children in crisis. Our mission is to rehabilitate the family, including siblings and parents. It’s a truly remarkable organization that I’m fortunate to be able to work alongside.

I’m also an emeritus board member at the Terry College of Business at University of Georgia, so I’m still active in that regard. Those are the two non-family-related things I’m most involved in.

What was your proudest moment at our company?

One of the most fulfilling moments in my career was bringing Savannah Electric into Georgia Power. The culture at Savannah Electric was extraordinary. Despite the difficulty of the merger, the employees embraced the change with grace and dedication. That’s a testament to the quality of people who worked there, and it remains one of the proudest achievements of my career.

What did you enjoy the most about your time at Georgia Power?

When people ask about my last two roles—leading external affairs and customer service—I always say I liked them both equally. They had different types of challenges, but I think they were equally invigorating. External affairs was all about the brand and the company’s relationship with the state of Georgia. Customer service, on the other hand, was about delivering on the promise we made to our customers every day. It all comes down to three things: our customers want their power on, they want it to be affordable, and they want to talk to someone nice when there’s a problem. If we can deliver those, we’ve done our job.

I was lucky enough to have some incredible mentors. Early in my career, there was Tommy Hollingsworth in Athens. He taught me the ropes at a very granular level. Then, there was Mickey Brown, who was instrumental in my leadership growth, David Ratcliffe, who taught me how to always look forward and Mike Garrett, who helped develop my political instincts.

Can you share your secret to success at Georgia Power?

I was lucky enough to have some incredible mentors. Early in my career, there was Tommy Hollingsworth in Athens. He taught me the ropes at a very granular level. Then, there was Mickey Brown, who was instrumental in my leadership growth, David Ratcliffe, who taught me how to always look forward and Mike Garrett, who helped develop my political instincts.

I was fortunate to have people invest in me throughout my career, and I tried to pay it forward by helping others grow and develop. That’s what it’s all about—helping people become the best versions of themselves.