JUNO BEACH, Fla., Jan. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of a
planned leadership succession process, the board of directors of
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) today announced a series of senior
leadership appointments, effective March 1,
2022, aimed at paving the way for the next generation of
company leadership.
John Ketchum, a 19-year
veteran of NextEra Energy, is named president and chief executive
officer (CEO), NextEra Energy. He will report directly to the
NextEra Energy, Inc. Board of Directors. Jim Robo, the current chairman and CEO, will
become executive chairman for a transition period, and it is
anticipated that Mr. Ketchum will also be appointed to the
company's board of directors effective March
1.
Along with these changes, the company is announcing other senior
leadership moves, including:
- Eric Silagy, president
and CEO of Florida Power & Light
Company (FPL), will take on the added responsibility of chairman,
FPL.
- Rebecca Kujawa is named
president and CEO, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (NEER), succeeding
Mr. Ketchum. Ms. Kujawa is presently NextEra Energy's executive
vice president, finance and chief financial officer (CFO).
- Kirk Crews is named
executive vice president, finance and CFO, NextEra Energy, Inc.,
succeeding Ms. Kujawa. Mr. Crews is presently vice president,
business management, NEER.
"It is an honor to be selected to lead the absolute best team in
the energy sector," said Mr. Ketchum. "Over the last two decades,
I've had the privilege of working closely with and learning from
Jim as he led NextEra Energy through a period of unprecedented
growth. Our NextEra Energy team, starting with Eric, Rebecca and
Kirk, is full of talented and experienced executives who are
passionate about leading the U.S. energy transition. As CEO, I
intend to remain intensely focused on delivering value for our
shareholders and building upon our long track record of success. I
believe there is no company better positioned to lead our country's
energy transformation than NextEra Energy, and I am humbled by the
opportunity to lead this team through such an exciting period for
our company."
Mr. Ketchum has a diverse business, finance and legal background
with a broad range of experiences across key executive roles at
NextEra Energy, NEER and NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NEP).
In 2016, Mr. Ketchum was appointed NextEra Energy's executive
vice president, finance and CFO. After three years as CFO, he
assumed his current role as president and CEO of NEER and president
of NEP in March 2019. He has also
previously served as executive vice president, finance and CFO of
FPL, as well as CFO and a member of the board of directors of NEP
and senior vice president, finance for NextEra Energy.
Mr. Ketchum holds a Master of Laws degree in taxation and a
Juris Doctor from the University of
Missouri – Kansas City School of Law, where he was managing
editor of the Law Review and received the Charles E. Whittaker Award for Academic
Excellence and the Wilbur L. Pollard Law Review Honor Award as the
Law Review's top contributor. Mr. Ketchum holds a Bachelor of Arts
degree in economics and finance, graduating magna cum laude, from
the University of Arizona. He also
completed the Emerging CFO – Strategic Financial Leadership Program
at Stanford University.
Sherry Barrat, lead independent
director of the NextEra Energy Board of Directors, said, "It cannot
be overstated how significant an impact Jim
Robo has had on the transformation of NextEra Energy. The
board of directors is grateful for Jim's incredible leadership,
which has guided the company through a period of unprecedented
growth. Under Jim's stewardship, NextEra Energy has been
transformed into a world leader in clean energy and the world's
largest electric company by market capitalization. He has led FPL
to become what we believe is the best utility in America and has
led NEER to become the world's largest generator of renewable
energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage.
NextEra Energy was a $29 billion
market capitalization company when Jim became CEO and, today, it
had surpassed $150 billion in market
capitalization – a more than five-fold improvement. There can be no
more significant measure of CEO performance than shareholder value,
and Jim has excelled in delivering this for our owners with
integrity, a clear strategic vision and outstanding operational
execution."
Ms. Barrat continued, "CEO succession is a critical process in
any company, and our board approached this change of leadership in
a very diligent manner. Working closely with Jim, the board
identified John as his successor and will ensure a structured
leadership succession process that fully supports our shareholders,
employees and customers. John is a talented and experienced leader
who has worked across NextEra Energy since joining our company
nearly two decades ago, and we know that he is ready to be CEO. His
vision has helped craft a strategic and operational runway for
NextEra Energy to lead America's energy transformation, and he has
the complete endorsement and support of the board of directors. We
look forward to working closely with John for the continued success
of NextEra Energy and the benefit of our shareholders."
During his time with NextEra Energy, Mr. Ketchum has led the
execution of various strategic initiatives across the enterprise
and has been instrumental in the expansion of the company's
renewable generation fleet and the overall successes of NEE, NEER
and NEP. He has been a key contributor to the growth of NEER. While
CEO of NEER, Mr. Ketchum oversaw the largest three-year capital
investment program in NEER's history, as well its most successful
period of new renewables origination, leading to a near doubling of
the size of the renewables backlog during this period. In addition,
he oversaw a nearly $5 billion,
three-year capital recycling period, the largest in NEER's history.
Mr. Ketchum has helped shape the growth strategy for the company
and by concentrating on key leadership pillars, such as teamwork,
execution, innovation and disciplined capital management, he has
driven a culture focused on top-line growth, productivity and
profitability.
Commenting on the transition, Mr. Robo said, "It has been an
honor and a privilege to serve as CEO for nearly 10 years. I'm as
excited as I have ever been about the future prospects of NextEra
Energy and NextEra Energy Partners. A big part of a CEO's legacy is
the new leader and the next-generation leadership team that
follows. I couldn't be more thrilled about turning over the CEO
role of this great company to John. I know he will be as focused on
creating value for our owners as I have been over the last two
decades. I also want to congratulate Eric, Rebecca and Kirk on
their new roles. One of the defining characteristics of this
company over the last 30 years has been the quality and strength of
its leadership team, and I'm very proud of and excited for the team
that will lead NextEra Energy into the future. Most importantly, I
want to thank my team and all our employees for everything they
have accomplished. Our team is the best in the business, has built
this amazing company and I can't thank them enough."
Mr. Robo joined NextEra Energy as vice president of corporate
development and strategy in March 2002. A few months later, he
was appointed president of NEER and in 2006 assumed the role of
president and chief operating officer, NextEra Energy. He became
president and CEO, NextEra Energy, in July
2012 and chairman of the board of directors in December 2013.
Prior to joining NextEra Energy, Mr. Robo served in executive
roles with General Electric and Strategic Planning Associates, a
management consulting firm. Mr. Robo received his Bachelor of Arts
degree from Harvard College in 1984 and his MBA in 1988
from Harvard Business School. He serves on the board of
directors of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.
During Mr. Robo's tenure as CEO, NextEra Energy has achieved
unparalleled success across every major metric by which the company
is evaluated. He has led the company through significant growth
across its core businesses and through acquisitions which have
expanded the company's operations to 49 states and Canada. Mr. Robo was the key architect of
numerous strategic ventures during his time as CEO, including the
formation of NextEra Energy Partners, LP, a growth-oriented limited
partnership, and several significant acquisitions including Gulf
Power Company. Over the last 10 years under Mr. Robo's oversight,
NextEra Energy has risen to become one of America's Top-5
infrastructure investors through its more than $110 billion of capital deployment and the
leading clean energy company in the world. On a total shareholder
return basis, NextEra Energy has delivered a more than 500% gain
since Mr. Robo assumed the CEO role in July
2012, outperforming all of the companies in the S&P 500
Utilities Index and more than 78% of the companies in the S&P
500 Index.
Mr. Silagy has worked for NextEra Energy for nearly two decades.
Prior to his appointment as president of FPL in 2011, he served as
senior vice president of regulatory and state governmental affairs
and as chief development officer, managing all generation
development, including solar, natural gas and nuclear energy
projects. At NEER, Mr. Silagy served as vice president and general
manager of the southern region, and vice president of business
development.
Prior to joining NextEra Energy, Mr. Silagy served as vice
president, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures at Entergy
Wholesale Operations, and as vice president and managing director,
Southeast Asia, for The Wing
Group, a subsidiary of Western Resources. He also worked for U.S.
Senator J. Bennett Johnston of
Louisiana in several capacities,
including chief of staff.
Mr. Silagy is a member of the board of directors of the Florida
Chamber of Commerce, where he served as chairman in 2013-2014 and
is a former board member of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. In
addition, Mr. Silagy is currently serving a seven-year term as a
member of the Board of Governors for the State University System of
Florida, including a two-year term as vice chair which began on
Jan.1, 2022. He is vice chair of the Florida Council of 100, an
executive board member of Enterprise
Florida and board member of the Honda Classic PGA Tour
event. He also serves on the Energy Security Leadership Council of
Securing America's Future Energy, a bi-partisan council of business
and military leaders supporting a comprehensive, long-term policy
to reduce U.S. oil dependence and improve energy security. Mr.
Silagy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the
University of Texas at Austin, a Juris
Doctor from the Georgetown University
Law Center and is a member of the Maryland and U.S. Supreme Court bars.
Ms. Kujawa joined NextEra Energy 15 years ago in NextEra
Energy Marketing and has held key roles throughout the enterprise,
serving as director of investor relations for NextEra Energy and as
vice president of business management for the midwest and
international region for NEER. In 2015 she was appointed to lead
business management for all of NEER, and in March 2019 assumed her current role as CFO,
NextEra Energy. Ms. Kujawa is also CFO and a member of the board of
directors of NEP.
Ms. Kujawa has extensive finance, operations, commercial
transactions, risk management, customer engagement and project
development experience. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Kujawa
worked as senior vice president, research, for Stanford Group
Company and senior equity analyst for Avalon Research Group. She
also served in sales and international business development roles
at several software companies. She started her career as an equity
derivatives sales trader for Goldman Sachs & Co. in New
York. Ms. Kujawa holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
designation and previously was a member of the New York Stock
Exchange and National Association of Securities Dealers' joint
committee on the research analyst qualification exams. She
earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in public policy studies
from Duke University and serves on the board of Nuclear
Electric Insurance Limited.
Mr. Crews joined the company in April
2016 as vice president, controller and chief accounting
officer, NextEra Energy. In March
2019 he was appointed to his present position as vice
president, business management, NEER. Prior to joining NextEra
Energy, Mr. Crews spent more than 12 years at Deloitte, first as a
senior manager and then as a national office clearing partner,
consulting with clients in the financial services and energy
industries on complex accounting and reporting matters. Between
2013 to 2015, he left Deloitte to work in the office of the chief
accountant of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a
professional accounting fellow, returning to the firm in
July 2015.
Mr. Crews earned a Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration degree in accounting from the University of Richmond - Robins School of
Business.
Outlook
NextEra Energy today announced increased
financial expectations for 2022 and 2023 and extended its long-term
outlook of roughly 6% to 8% compound annual growth in adjusted
earnings per share by two years, through 2025. For 2022, NextEra
Energy now expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range
of $2.75 to $2.85, up from its prior range of $2.55 to $2.75. For
2023 through 2025, NextEra Energy expects to grow roughly 6% to 8%
per year off the expected 2022 adjusted earnings per share. For
2023, this translates to a new range of $2.93 to $3.08, up
from the prior range of $2.77 to
$2.97. The new adjusted earnings per
share expectations for 2024 are $3.13
to $3.33, and for 2025 are
$3.35 to $3.60.
NextEra Energy, Inc.
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy
company headquartered in Juno Beach,
Florida. NextEra Energy owns Florida
Power & Light Company, which is the
largest vertically integrated rate-regulated electric
utility in the United States as
measured by retail electricity produced and sold, and serves more
than 5.6 million customer accounts, supporting more than 11 million
residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable
electricity. NextEra Energy also owns a competitive clean energy
business, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its
affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable
energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage.
Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean,
emissions-free electricity from seven commercial nuclear power
units in Florida, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. A Fortune 200 company, NextEra
Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts
in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance,
and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and
gas utilities industry on Fortune's 2021 list of "World's Most
Admired Companies," recognized on Fortune's 2021 list of companies
that "Change the World" and received the S&P Global Platts 2020
Energy Transition Award for leadership in environmental, social and
governance. For more information about NextEra Energy
companies, visit these
websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future
Results for NextEra Energy, Inc.
This news release contains
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts,
but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy,
Inc. (NextEra Energy) and Florida
Power & Light Company (FPL) regarding future operating
results and other future events, many of which, by their nature,
are inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's and FPL's
control. Forward-looking statements in this news release include,
among others, statements concerning adjusted earnings per share
expectations and future operating performance, statements
concerning future dividends, and results of acquisitions. In some
cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or
phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate,"
"believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "potential," "projection,"
"forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should,"
"would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a
guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra
Energy and FPL and their business and financial condition are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause their actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements, or may require them to limit or
eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this news
release and the following: effects of extensive regulation of
NextEra Energy's and FPL's business operations; inability of
NextEra Energy and FPL to recover in a timely manner any
significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a
reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost
recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact
of political, regulatory and economic factors on regulatory
decisions important to NextEra Energy and FPL; disallowance of cost
recovery by FPL based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative
instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or
elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support
utility scale renewable energy projects of NextEra Energy
Resources, LLC and its affiliated entities (NextEra Energy
Resources) or the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or
assessments on renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws,
regulations, interpretations or ballot or regulatory initiatives on
NextEra Energy and FPL; capital expenditures, increased operating
costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws,
regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy and
FPL; effects on NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state laws or
regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of
greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to
significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial
monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive
federal regulation of their operations and businesses; effect on
NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies
as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related
asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of
adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of
failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to
complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric
generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas
infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within
budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra
Energy and FPL resulting from risks related to project siting,
financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the
negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in
the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission
and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities, retail
gas distribution system in Florida
and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of a lack of
growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer
usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe weather and other
weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events
that could result from terrorism, cyberattacks or other attempts to
disrupt NextEra Energy's and FPL's business or the businesses of
third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for
protection of NextEra Energy and FPL against significant losses and
risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against
all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil
prices could impact NextEra Energy Resources' gas infrastructure
business and cause NextEra Energy Resources to delay or cancel
certain gas infrastructure projects and could result in certain
projects becoming impaired; risk to NextEra Energy Resources of
increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs
necessary to provide NextEra Energy Resources' full energy and
capacity requirement services; inability or failure by NextEra
Energy Resources to manage properly or hedge effectively the
commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the
liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage
operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's and FPL's risk
management tools associated with their hedging and trading
procedures to protect against significant losses, including the
effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior;
impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or
commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power
or natural gas by NextEra Energy, including FPL; exposure of
NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and performance risk from
customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of NextEra
Energy or FPL counterparties to perform under derivative contracts
or of requirement for NextEra Energy or FPL to post margin cash
collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra
Energy's or FPL's information technology systems; risks to NextEra
Energy and FPL's retail businesses from compromise of sensitive
customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of
derivative instruments and limited liquidity in OTC markets; impact
of negative publicity; inability of FPL to maintain, negotiate or
renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements with municipalities and
counties in Florida; occurrence of
work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra
Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate
acquisitions, including the effect of increased competition for
acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated
with NextEra Energy Resources' and FPL's ownership and operation of
nuclear generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy and FPL
for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective
insurance premiums in the event of an incident at certain nuclear
generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures
and/or reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities of NextEra
Energy or FPL resulting from orders or new regulations of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra
Energy Resources' or FPL's owned nuclear generation units through
the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of
disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital
markets or actions by third parties in connection with
project-specific or other financing arrangements on NextEra
Energy's and FPL's ability to fund their liquidity and capital
needs and meet their growth objectives; inability of NextEra
Energy, FPL and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. to maintain
their current credit ratings; impairment of NextEra Energy's and
FPL's liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their
credit commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings;
poor market performance and other economic factors that could
affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded
status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values
of NextEra Energy's and FPL's nuclear decommissioning funds;
changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra
Energy's investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy
subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra
Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under guarantees of
subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its
financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the
fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra
Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by
NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes
to that policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy's
board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in
amounts that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NEP's
inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable
terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future
acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner
interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; effects of
disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital
markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock; and
the ultimate severity and duration of public health crises,
epidemics and pandemics, including the coronavirus pandemic, and
its effects on NextEra Energy's or FPL's businesses. NextEra Energy
and FPL discuss these and other risks and uncertainties in their
annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other SEC filings, and this
news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings.
The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made
only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy and FPL
undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
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SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.