Exelon, PECO veteran is 2018 Executive of Year
Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry honors Denis O’Brien for his civic leadership.
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> Denis O’Brien, a 36-year veteran of Exelon Corp. and PECO, was named 2018 Executive of the Year by the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry Thursday night.
O’Brien was honored for his civic leadership in making a positive impact on the region during the chamber’s annual dinner at Longwood Gardens, with more than 300 in attendance. “Chester County is one of the fastest growing counties in Pennsylvania, and in order to meet that growth, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in advanced energy infrastructure and improvements to bring electricity and natural gas to homes and businesses,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien told the crowd that PECO realizes that land conservation is important to many people in Chester County.
“Your want of open spaces has inspired us to create a PECO green region grant program, which has given over $1 million to preserve open space,” he said. “We are thinking big, and we are thinking big with you.”
PECO Green Region has awarded $1.75 million to municipalities and nonprofit organizations since 2004. The total population of communities re-
“Your want of open spaces has inspired us to create a PECO green region grant program, which has given over $1 million to preserve open space. We are thinking big, and we are thinking big with you.” — Denis O’Brien, 2018 Executive of the Year
ceiving grants is 3 million, representing 75 percent of the five-county region’s residents.
These grants have supported 230 open space projects in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia and York counties and have saved more than 400 acres of open space. Those grants have also supported more than 100 upgrades to local parks and built or improved more than 14.5 miles of biking and hiking trains.
O’Brien previously served as CEO of Exelon Utilities, which provides electricity and natural gas to about 22 million people across the District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Together, Atlantic City
Electric, Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE), Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), Delmarva, PECO and Pepco make up the nation’s largest electric and natural gas distribution company. O’Brien led efforts to realize the improvements
that Exelon’s utilities have achieved.
Prior to his role as CEO of Exelon Utilities, O’Brien served as executive vice president of Exelon and CEO of Philadelphia-based PECO, Pennsylvania’s largest electric and natural gas utility, advancing PECO’s operations and reliability, customer satisfaction and financial performance.
He previously chaired the board of the Electric Power Research Institute and served on the boards of the American Gas Association, the Pennsylvania Economy League, YMCA of Greater Philadelphia, and WHYY, Inc.
He was appointed as president for PECO in 2003 and was named president and CEO in 2007. He has more than 30 years of utility experience in engineering, operations, strategic planning and executive management.
Under O’Brien’s leadership in the past few years, PECO has been recognized for leading employee safety, diversity, economic development and environmental programs.
In addition to his work with Exelon, O’Brien serves the community in various business, civic, and philanthropic roles, which include board director for both Independence Blue Cross and the Franklin Institute, former board chair for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, board trustee for Drexel University, and member of the CEO Council for Growth.
O’Brien graduated from Rutgers with a degree in industrial engineering and obtained his MBA from Drexel University. He resides in Havertown with his wife Carolyn and their three children.
At the event, the chamber honored state Rep. Harry Lewis of Coatesville as the 2018 Citizen of the Year.