Ram Power CEO Hezy Ram quits after project delay

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Ram Power Corp said on Monday its president and chief executive, Hezy Ram, has quit, a week after the geothermal company warned that a key project faced significant delays and cost overruns.

Walter Higgins, a Ram board member, has been appointed as interim president and CEO while the company searches for a new leader.

Higgins is the retired chairman and CEO of Sierra Pacific Resources, now called NV Energy, a Nevada electricity and gas utility, Ram said in a statement.

Ram's shares were down 3 Canadian cents, or almost 2 percent, at C$1.53 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday morning.

The stock lost 20 percent of its value last week after the company said its San Jacinto-Tizate project in Nicaragua faced construction delays and higher material and labor costs.

Ram expects to contribute $10 million to $15 million of extra equity to the project and estimates it will not see revenues from the venture until July or August, some three months later than it originally thought.

($1=$0.99 Canadian)

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant; editing by Rob Wilson)