UGI Corp. CEO to retire in June
Longtime UGI Corp. President and CEO John Walsh, who led the company’s gas utility subsidiary during the February 2011 fatal natural gas explosion in Allentown, is retiring on June 25, the company announced Monday.
Walsh, 65, will be succeeded by 57-year-old Roger Perreault, who is UGI’s executive vice president of Global LPG and president of subsidiary UGI International LLC. Upon retirement, Walsh will continue to serve on UGI’s board of directors.
Walsh has been CEO since 2013 and president since 2005. He previously served as UGI’s chief operating officer from 2005 to 2013.
From 2009 to 2011, he was president and CEO of UGI Utilities Inc., which consists of regulated natural gas and electric distribution businesses. The gas utility serves about 670,000 customers in eastern and central Pennsylvania, while the electric utility serves more than 62,500 customers in portions of Luzerne and Wyoming counties.
The aftermath of the Feb. 9, 2011, explosion in the 500 block of North 13th Street that killed five people prompted a mammoth outpouring of community support for residents and a troubling assessment of the city’s miles of aging underground gas pipelines.
In response, UGI vowed to step up replacement of the lines under a settlement with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. The PUC ordered UGI to replace all cast-iron pipes by 2027, cutting UGI’s timeline by more than half. It prompted UGI to launch a $1.2 billion replacement program.
The company this year — 10 years after the explosion — said it remains on track to finish ahead of the 2027 timetable.
UGI Corp., based in King of Prussia, is a holding company that, through its subsidiaries, distributes, stores, transports and markets energy products and related services.
In addition to UGI Utilities, its other businesses include propane distributor AmeriGas Propane, the UGI International segment that consists of liquefied petroleum gas distribution in several countries overseas and its midstream and marketing unit that includes energy-related businesses conducted by UGI Energy Services LLC.
In its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, UGI recorded revenues of $6.56 billion and net income of $532 million. The company ranked No. 423 on the most recent Fortune 500 list.