Former Progress Energy CEO checks in from his new job at TVA.
Michael T. Burr is Fortnightly’s editor-in-chief. Email him at burr@pur.com
Each year in September, we examine the industry’s performance for shareholders, via the annual Fortnightly 40 report. This year, we spoke with senior executives at several investor-owned utilities – Cleco, NorthWestern Energy, OGE Energy, and Wisconsin Energy – to get their perspectives on market forces facing the industry, and the effects on shareholders.
William Johnson, TVA: “If there’s a better way to serve the Tennessee Valley region, then we ought to support that. I think it will be hard to find a better way.”
For a different perspective, we also spoke with a former IOU executive who made the switch to the world of public power. William Johnson was CEO of Progress Energy until the company merged with Duke Energy. Although he was expected to become CEO of the new company, the board of directors changed plans on the day the merger closed, in July 2012. Those changed plans sparked an investigation and settlement agreement at the North Carolina PUC. Meanwhile, in November 2012, the Tennessee Valley Authority named Johnson its new CEO.