TIERNEY: IT’S TIME TO ‘FOCUS ON THE FUTURE’
New Firstenergy CEO hopes utility can move past scandal
Firstenergy Corp.’s newest leader is the first to come from outside the company, but he’s no stranger to the electric utility industry.
Brian X. Tierney, 55, began his new tenure as Firstenergy’s president and chief executive officer on June 1.
Tierney joins Firstenergy from Blackstone Inc., where he served as the global head of portfolio operations and asset management for the infrastructure group.
Before joining Blackstone, one of the largest institutional shareholders in Firstenergy, Tierney spent 23 years at another Ohio-based electric utility, American Electric Power Co. Inc. (AEP). There, he held a number of leadership positions, including executive vice president of strategy after serving more than 11 years as its chief financial officer.
Tierney comes to the Akron-based Firstenergy after a tumultuous period tied to the company’s involvement in the House Bill 6 bribery scandal. The public corruption case led to the conviction and sentencing this year of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and Matt Borges, former chair of the Ohio Republican Party.
The scandal involved $61 million in bribe money paid by Firstenergy via dark money groups to help Householder seize political power and, in turn, pass and defend the HB 6 bailout law. The law provided a $1.3 billion bailout of struggling nuclear plants owned by Firstenergy’s former subsidiary Firstenergy Solutions, to be paid for by Ohio utility customers.
Firstenergy fired Chuck Jones as its chief executive officer and named company veteran Steven Strah as a replacement shortly after two of the men charged in the bribery investigation pleaded guilty.
Strah retired abruptly in late 2022 and was replaced by interim President and CEO John Somerhalder II, who had been board of directors chair and was an executive director between March 2021 and May 2022.
In March, the board named Tierney as the next CEO. Tierney said that although he worked for shareholder Blackstone at the time of his appointment, the process of naming him CEO was separate and the Blackstone representative on the Firstenergy board of directors recused himself from the vote.
Tierney said the company went through a business transaction as it transitioned from being a hybrid utility with competitive operations and regulated operations to one that is “entirely focused on regulated operations.”
“But we’ve also been through a corporate trauma, and I think the company has done a good job taking responsibility for what happened, entering into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice, owning up to what happened, taking steps to ensure that that doesn’t happen again, making changes in management, making additions to management and making sure that something like that never happens here again,” said Tierney. “So that allows us now to focus on the future and put that past behind us.”
“Our commitment to the community is as strong as it’s ever been.” Brian X. Tierney Firstenergy Corp.’s new president and CEO
Firstenergy is still committed to Akron
Tierney also comes to lead a company that recently announced it would be leaving its downtown Akron headquarters. The utility, which had signed a 10-year lease for the headquarters, is exercising its right to buy the building, allowing it to end the lease and move. Over the next two years, it plans to move its headquarters to its West Akron campus.
The decision came as Firstenergy is developing plans to transition from four corporate buildings in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, company spokeswoman Jennifer Young said in May.
The workforce has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic, said Young. Of the approximately 925 employees who report to Firstenergy’s Akron downtown office facility, 90% are now designated as mobile.
Tierney, who was not CEO when the decision was made, said the move was made for the future of the company.
“It’s not where you do the work anymore,” he said while sitting in an office at the West Akron campus during a recent interview. “A lot of our employees are still working remotely. It’s making sure that the work gets done.
“We’re moving out of an office
The groups, including the Office of Consumers’ Counsel, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, the Ohio Poverty Law Center, said there have been delays in processing applications for assistance.
“Recent times have been hard for many Ohioans. Consumers have faced soaring energy prices, inflation, and recovery from a pandemic, among other life challenges,” the groups said in a filing with the PUCO requesting the delay. “Unfortunately, there also have been challenges for some agencies that administer energy assistance programs to help Ohioans.”
One program, the Miami Valley Community Action Partnership, said the staff has the struggled to keep up with applications seeking help. Also, more people are seeking help because of expanded eligibility guidelines.
“During staffing challenges, it is possible for at-risk Ohioans to lose assistance under the state’s Percentage of Income Payment Plan,” the filing said. “Through no fault of their own, consumers could lose assistance if they are unable to reverify their PIPP eligibility or secure an inperson appointment to complete applications for winter and summer crisis assistance.” mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams