The New CEO's

Deck: 
Michael G. Morris
Fortnightly Magazine - June 2004
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Interviews

For Public Utilities Fortnightly's 75th Anniversary CEO issue, the magazine looked to the horizon and asked these new captains about the planned course for their companies, and for an entire industry.

In this endeavor, we chose six CEOs believes are the industry's brightest new stars:

Michael G. Morris, CEO, American Electric Power (Ticker:AEP)
Robert B. McGehee, CEO, Progress Energy (Ticker: PGN)
Michael J. Chesser, CEO, Great Plains Energy (Ticker: GXP)
Gary L. Rainwater, CEO, Ameren (Ticker: AEE)
Dennis R. Wraase, CEO, PEPCO (Ticker: POM)
Paul M. Anderson, CEO, Duke Energy (Ticker: DUK)

Although new leaders, these CEOs are industry veterans that cut their teeth within the corporate ranks for decades before rising to the top spots.

While Gary L. Rainwater, CEO of Ameren, has traveled the traditional route, moving through the engineering ranks, many of the new CEOs come from different backgrounds than their predecessors. Michael G. Morris, CEO, American Electric Power (AEP), and Robert B. McGehee, CEO, Progress Energy, are part of a new wave of utility executive that comes with legal backgrounds and diverse energy experience.

McGehee doesn't necessarily believe one discipline should dominate. "I don't know that a [legal background] is necessary. It is something I find valuable. You do look around. [AEP CEO] Mike Morris has a legal background. Certainly, the top people at Dominion, [CEO] Tom Capps and some of the others, have legal backgrounds. So, you are seeing more and more of it. [But] you're still seeing the MBAs. [TXU CEO] John Wilder, [FPL CEO] Lou Hay and [CEO] Wayne Leonard at Entergy have MBA backgrounds."

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