American Electric Power (AEP) in the U.S. announced that Benjamin G.S. Fowke III, a member of the Board of Directors, has been appointed interim chief executive officer and president, replacing Julie A. Sloat.
According to a release, the board determined, based on discussions with Sloat, that it is time to identify a new CEO to lead the company’s next chapter. “This decision was not a result of any disagreement with Sloat regarding AEP’s operations, policies or financial performance, and was not made for cause or related to any ethical or compliance concern,” AEP said.
In addition, the board has appointed its lead director, Sara Martinez Tucker, as chair. The board has engaged an executive search firm to conduct an external search for a permanent CEO.
“After thorough deliberation and discussions with Julie, the board determined now is the right time to make this leadership transition to best position AEP for the future,” Tucker said. “The company has made great progress managing our portfolio and supporting the needs of customers and communities. With this solid foundation, we continue to be well-positioned to execute our capital plan and enhance grid reliability and resiliency for customers while advancing our ongoing generation fleet transformation. We thank Julie for her many contributions to AEP over the course of her 23-year tenure at the company and wish her the best moving forward.”
Fowke previously served as chairman and CEO of Xcel Energy for more than a decade until his retirement in August 2021 and has been a director on the AEP since 2022 and is chair of the Finance Committee. Fowke held a variety of leadership roles at Xcel including chief operating officer and chief financial officer. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from Towson University and obtained his CPA in 1982. He is on the board of Securian Financial and Energy Insurance Mutual and former chair of the board of Edison Electric Institute.
“Through my career in the industry, I have gotten to know AEP well, and since joining the board, I have gained an even deeper appreciation of AEP’s operations and the depth of talent across the organization,” Fowke said. “The board and I have carefully overseen the execution of recent portfolio actions to simplify and de-risk the business, and I look forward to working with the management team over the coming months to build on AEP’s positive momentum.”
AEP is based in Columbus, Ohio, and has nearly 17,000 employees who operate and maintain more than 40,000 miles of transmission lines and more than 225,000 miles of distribution lines to deliver power to 5.6 million customers in 11 states. AEP also has nearly 29,000 MW of diverse generating capacity, including about 6,100 MW of renewable energy. This includes 15 hydroelectric plants. AEP is on track to reach an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and has a goal to achieve net zero by 2045.
