AEP Announces Leadership Team Changes

American Electric Power is making changes to expand the skills and experience of the company’s leadership team. These changes are effective July 31, 2021.

“Leadership development and succession planning are critically important for the ongoing success of our culture and company. These changes provide opportunities to expand the experience of this talented team of leaders and will bring new insights and creativity to strategic parts of the business. This is critical as we continue our transformation to clean energy resources and investing in smarter, more efficient infrastructure to serve customers,” said Nick Akins, chairman, president and chief executive officer of AEP.

• Toby Thomas, currently president and chief operating officer for Indiana Michigan Power, has been named senior vice president, Energy Delivery. He will report to Lisa Barton, executive vice president and chief operating officer. These individuals will report to Thomas:
  • David Ball, managing director, Energy Delivery Operations
  • David Ferguson, managing director, Energy Delivery Finance
  • Scott Moore, vice president, Energy Delivery Projects & Construction
  • Darren Shepard, vice president, Energy Delivery Engineering
  • Scott Smith, senior vice president, Transmission Field Services
• As an element of the company’s succession planning efforts, Mark McCullough, executive vice president, Energy Delivery, is retiring.

“I want to thank Mark for his 40 years of service and leadership at AEP. He has spent his entire career working to enhance the culture and effectiveness of AEP’s generation and transmission organizations. His many contributions include developing very strong leadership teams to continue those efforts. We wish Mark and his family all the best,” Akins said.

Additional leadership and organizational changes include:

• Steve Baker, vice president, Distribution Region Operations, PSO, has been promoted to president and chief operating officer for Indiana Michigan Power.
• Jennifer Leber, director, Reliability & Grid Modernization, PSO, will succeed Baker as vice president, Distribution Region Operations, for PSO.
• Raja Sundararajan, president and chief operating officer for AEP Ohio, has been named to a new position – senior vice president, Regulatory and Customer Solutions, reporting to Charles Patton, executive vice president, External Affairs. Phil Dion, vice president and interim Chief Customer Officer, and Matt Satterwhite, vice president, Regulatory Affairs, will report to Sundararajan.
• Marc Reitter, vice president, Regulatory & Finance for AEP Ohio, has been promoted to AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer.
• Lisa Kelso, director, Regulatory Services for AEP Ohio, will succeed Reitter as vice president, Regulatory & Finance.
• Communications & Marketing and AEP’s Washington Office will continue to report to Patton. Human Resources and Labor Relations also will report to Patton until a new chief human resources officer is selected.

• Karen Ashley, chief diversity and inclusion officer, has decided to leave the company after five years of service.“AEP remains committed to our diversity and inclusion efforts. Building on our differences and similarities makes us stronger as a company. Karen’s leadership has helped us to continue creating a culture where everyone feels valued, respected and has a sense of belonging. She’s helped us strengthen our skills, have open, transparent conversations and learn more about each other’s perspectives. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors,” Akins said.
• Janelle Coleman, vice president, Corporate Philanthropy & Community Engagement, has been named to a new, expanded role – vice president, Community Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion. Coleman will assume responsibility for AEP’s Diversity and Inclusion program in addition to her current oversight of AEP’s philanthropic engagement and her role as president of the AEP Foundation. Coleman’s new position will be part of the Human Resources organization. She will report to Patton until the new chief human resources officer is selected.
• AEP’s Ohio-based External Affairs team will be realigned to report to Patton.
  • Maria Haberman has been promoted to managing director, Ohio Governmental Affairs, reporting to Patton.
  • Tom Froehle, vice president, External Affairs, is retiring from AEP after 11 years of service.

“Tom has enhanced our working relationship with Ohio lawmakers over the last decade as we managed the transition to competitive markets and other challenges. We wish Tom and his family all the best,” said David Feinberg, executive vice president and general counsel. Oversight of Corporate Sustainability and NERC Compliance will report to Feinberg.