New Opportunities: Consumers Energy announced leadership changes: Ronn Rasmussen was named v.p. of strategy and research. Previously he was v.p. of rates and regulation. Patti Poppe was named to v.p. of customer experience, rates, and regulation; she was v.p. of customer experience and operations. Garrick Rochow was named v.p. of customer operations and quality; he was v.p. of energy delivery. Mary Palkovich was named v.p. of energy delivery; she was v.p. of gas engineering and technical services at CenterPoint Energy. Rich Ford was named v.p. of transmission; he was v.p. of generation operations. Guy Packard was named v.p. of generation operations; he was general manager of the company’s Karn-Weadock and J.H. Campbell power stations.
Robert M. Blue
Dominion made a number of executive changes, including the promotions of Robert M. Blue to president of the Dominion Virginia Power business unit, and Diane Leopold to president of the Dominion Energy business unit. Blue was previously v.p. of law, public policy & environment, and Leopold was senior v.p. of Dominion Transmission. Other executive changes include the promotions of P. Rodney Blevins to senior v.p. and CIO and Katheryn B. Curtis to senior v.p. of power generation. Previously, Blevins was v.p. of distribution operations for Dominion Virginia Power. Most recently, Curtis was v.p. of retail.
FirstEnergy made several management changes: Leila L. Vespoli, executive v.p. and general counsel, was named executive v.p. of markets, and chief legal officer. Robert P. Reffner, formerly v.p. of legal, was named v.p. and general counsel. Charles E. Jones, senior v.p. and president, FirstEnergy Utilities (FEU), was named executive v.p. and president, FEU. Mark Mroczynski, director of operations support for Ohio Edison was named executive director of transmission reliability enhancement projects. Steven E. Strah, v.p. of distribution support, FEU, will oversee two additional areas: customer service and energy efficiency. George J. Farah, formerly v.p. of fossil engineering and construction, was named v.p. of human resources. Charles D. Lasky, v.p. of fossil operations, was named v.p. of fossil operations and engineering.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) elected Gregg Lemler as v.p. of electric transmission operations. Most recently, he served as senior director of PG&E’s transmission system operations organization. The company also named Sara Cherry as v.p. of investor relations. Cherry’s appointment follows the retirement of Gabriel Togneri. Previously Cherry was v.p. of business finance for PG&E.
Xcel Energy named David Donovan as general manager of customer and community service for Xcel Energy’s Wisconsin and Michigan service territory. Since 2005, Donovan was manager of regulatory policy at Xcel Energy’s Madison office.
Leila L. Vespoli
Southern Nuclear named Cheryl Gayheart as Plant Farley site v.p.
J.J. Hutto replaces Gayheart as Farley’s plant manager. Hutto was an engineer in the maintenance department.
ITC Holdings named Kevin Burke as v.p. of human resources and chief human resources officer. Burke joins ITC from Dow Corning, where he served as v.p. of human resources for global corporate functions.
Associations: Renewable Energy Vermont elected Thomas Hughes to serve as its new chair. Hughes is the CEO of Sunward Systems, a solar hot water equipment distributor.
Boards of Directors: UNS Energy named president and COO David G. Hutchens as a member of the company’s board of directors.
George J. Farah
American Electric Power elected Nicholas K. Akins as chairman of the board. Akins is AEP’s president and CEO.
CenterPoint Energy appointed Scott J. McLean as a director to serve on the company’s board of directors until the next annual meeting of shareholders. McLean is CEO of Amegy Bank of Texas and executive v.p. of Zions Bancorporation.
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