Collaboration and coordination between government stakeholders and the electric power industry are vital following weather-related events and natural disasters that cause significant power outages. These partnerships help ensure an efficient response, using the strengths and resources of both industry and government to restore power quickly and to support storm-affected communities and customers. By working together, we can mitigate the impact of disasters, enhance resilience, and expedite recovery efforts.

One of the hallmarks of this industry is its collaborative nature, embodied by the mutual assistance process that brings resources and support to communities that need it most. We are fortunate to be part of a critical industry that keeps the lights on and energy flowing, and we are proud to be there so customers and communities know they can depend on us to reliably deliver the energy they need when and where they need it. That’s true on blue-sky days and in recovering and rebuilding in the wake of storms.

More than power, even, we have the privilege of restoring hope. Nowhere was this more evident than in the recent responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which made landfall within two weeks of one another. More than 200 lives were lost during these devastating storms, which also disrupted power and paralyzed local economies for millions of Americans.

The Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC)—the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power sector—was pivotal in preparing for and responding to these hurricanes. The ESCC brings together industry CEOs and leaders with key federal partners, including officials from the White House, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Departments of Energy and Homeland Security, among others.

During Helene and Milton, the ESCC convened numerous national calls structured to facilitate unity of effort and message. Working through the council ensured that information was shared with all relevant parties and that challenges were promptly addressed to help communities recover safely and as swiftly as possible.

We are incredibly grateful for the involvement and leadership of senior government officials who connected directly with our industry throughout the response to these storms. Especially encouraging was direct engagement from President Joe Biden; Vice President Kamala Harris; Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; FEMA Director Deanne Criswell; and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Caitlin Durkovich, among others.

In the days leading up to and following Helene’s landfall, Southern Company system responders joined tens of thousands of mutual assistance workers deployed from all over the country before pivoting to assist with the response to Milton. In the responses to Helene and Milton, our industry mobilized more than 50,000 mutual assistance workers from at least 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada—highlighting the strength and importance of industry partnerships in storm restoration.

The coordination across companies and state lines, and the unity of effort to move crews and materials where work needed to be done, was a marvel to see.

Customers and communities are at the heart of everything we do. We know that energy is a necessity, not a commodity. It is a critical asset to our nation and to our economy that powers everyday life. That’s why we also know how incredibly essential energy resilience is.

Southern Company, like so many of our peers, has been focused on resilience planning for years. We prepare for extreme weather events and worst-case scenarios so that we can deliver for our customers when they need us most. Since 2015, we’ve invested around $21 billion in our energy grid. And much of our future investment is expected to go toward things that make our grid more resilient, like hardening our infrastructure and enhancing the resilience of our generation facilities. 

Investments in resilience pay off. Even with the magnitude of Helene and Milton, areas in Florida and Georgia that had significantly invested in resilience experienced less damage to the grid and saw faster restoration times. We are working closely with customers, communities, government officials, and regulators to help everyone understand the importance of these investments and the tangible benefits they provide.

I am proud of the team at Southern Company—and of EEI and our peers across the industry—for learning new lessons every year and after every storm. We are always looking for ways to get better. Helene and Milton brought extraordinary challenges. Their lessons will help us to better serve our customers and to be even more prepared for the next storm.

Stan Connally is the executive vice president of operations at Southern Company and chairman, president, and CEO of Southern Company Services. He also serves as the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council’s emergency response lead.

Electric Perspectives (EP): You assumed your role as president and CEO of FirstEnergy a little more than a year ago. What are your main priorities, and what can you say about your experience leading the company?

Brian X. Tierney (BXT): The past year has been fantastic, and I’m more excited than ever to be here. I was drawn to FirstEnergy because the company was at a point in its business and cultural evolution when it could begin tapping into its strengths and realizing its tremendous potential.

FirstEnergy is a fully regulated, mostly wires-based electric company, with a service area that spans parts of five states in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions. We just completed the last in a series of transactions that raised $7 billion in equity proceeds to strengthen our balance sheet. That means we now have the financial strength to capitalize on the immense investment opportunities in our regulated businesses for the benefit of our customers. This is a key differentiator for the new FirstEnergy: singular customer focus and a strong balance sheet.

My goal is to help FirstEnergy fulfill that potential and become a premier electric company, characterized by a high-performing culture, an excellent customer experience, strong and consistent financials, and being a trusted community partner.

To get there, we built a simple business model grounded in four components: investing in our people and our system, operating safely and efficiently, recovering prudent investments, and financing our regulated utility operations. When we execute this model effectively, it creates a virtuous cycle that drives great results for everyone who depends on us.

Coming into this job, my priorities were to make sure we have the goals, operating structure, culture, and tools to execute on this model and move the company forward. We’re making progress on every component of our business model, and we’re well on our way.

Exelon’s primary focus is leading the clean energy transformation. While doing that, we are focused on helping our communities become cleaner, healthier, and more equitable places to live and to work. We believe it’s our responsibility to ensure a better future for all. This guides me every day in my work as CEO.

“We believe it's our responsibility to ensure a better future for all.”

EP: Under your leadership, FirstEnergy implemented a new operating structure and established four major verticals: distribution in Pennsylvania and Ohio, integrated operations in New Jersey and West Virginia/Maryland, a standalone transmission business, and FirstEnergy’s central corporate arm. Why did FirstEnergy make these changes, and what benefits does this strategy offer?

BXT: FirstEnergy is trusted to deliver a service that is the lifeblood of our communities. We need to perform this job safely and efficiently in a way that understands, respects, and responds to the individual needs of the customers and communities we serve across our diverse five-state footprint. Energy policies across our service area vary widely, so we need to listen, engage, and work with stakeholders on solutions.

Our entire team needs to understand our collective goals and their role in achieving them. They also need to have a continuous improvement mindset, always looking for opportunities to be more efficient and provide better service.

This requires a lot of two-way communication, and focused, local leadership that is accountable for results. To support this, we’ve shifted more decision-making and operational accountability away from headquarters and closer to our customers, regulators, and employees.

Our restructured leadership allows greater execution at the business-unit level, where we have the best insight into what our customers want and what our employees need to perform at the highest level. We’re already seeing success in everything from storm response to regulatory outcomes.

After changing how we manage the company, we needed to adopt new reporting that reflects that change. With four business units—pure-play distribution, integrated, stand-alone transmission, and corporate/other—individual operating companies are no longer split among the segments. This creates greater simplicity and transparency in reporting, as well as accountability in our management.

The right organizational and operating structure is critical to executing our strategy, so getting this in place was a priority.

Brian X. Tierney assumed his current position as president and CEO of FirstEnergy in June 2023, helping the company serve as a leader in building America's energy future.

EP: There are several new faces on FirstEnergy's leadership team, filling out the new organizational structure and helping drive the company's transformation. What traits do you look for in your leaders and employees?

BXT: When I joined the company, FirstEnergy was at a pivotal point in its transformation. The scale of change that has been undertaken by ouremployees during recent years has been nothing short of extraordinary. As a result of their work, we're in an incredible position to achieve our goal of becoming a premier electric company. 

To accelerate our transformation, we've added 12 new leaders at the executive level since June 2023. It's leadership's job to engage and energize the organization so that all employees are empowered to bring their best. To ensure strong execution in these critical roles, I look for dynamic individuals with deep experience and a continuous improvement mindset. They must demonstrate strong values, the desire to work collaboratively across the organization, and a proven ability to lead organizations through change while driving results.

Like me, our leaders see a unique opportunity to make a positive impact. They're bringing fresh ideas and building a more inclusive culture—focused on performance excellence—that inspires employees and drives results for our customers, communities, and investors.

This is truly a new FirstEnergy. I'm proud of our progress and excited about our future.

EP: You also have overseen FirstEnergy's Energize365 capital investment program, which will see the company invest $26 billion from 2024-2028 to support grid-modernization efforts. What can you share about this initiative and the importance of investing in critical energy infrastructure?

BXT: We hear a consistent and positive message from state commissioners, governors, and other local leaders: They support prudent and impactful infrastructure investments that help meet reliability standards, enhance the customer experience, and advance state energy policies. This aligns perfectly with FirstEnergy’s strategy to invest and operate the system to benefit our customers.

To accomplish this, we leveraged our long-term transmission investment program and strong balance sheet to build our new capital investment program, Energize365. The program expands our customer-focused investments across both the transmission and distribution system to address our customers’ needs, now and in the future. This includes enhancing system reliability and resilience, preparing for demand growth and electrification, improving the customer experience, and supporting connections to clean energy sources—while maintaining a strong affordability position.

The $26 billion in regulated investments between 2024 and 2028 represents a 44-percent increase over our previous five-year plan. Most of these investments are in formula rate programs that provide real-time returns. It includes increasing annual investments in our transmission and distribution system each year, resulting in 9-percent average annual rate base growth and driving returns for investors.

Through Energize365, we’re enabling the transition toward a more sustainable energy landscape. We’re embracing innovation and investing in the new technologies and tools that support the connection of renewables and distributed energy resources. This is being done at the micro level through individual customer connections and at the macro level through projects like building solar facilities in West Virginia and connecting off-shore wind generation to the grid in New Jersey.

Importantly, we have the flexibility to adjust the plan as projects emerge. This includes competitive transmission proposals we’re submitting through the PJM Open Window planning process.

“We’re embracing innovation and investing in the new technologies and tools that support the connection of renewables and distributed energy resources,” says Tierney.

EP: Late last year, FirstEnergy subsidiaries were awarded more than $800 million by PJM Interconnection for transmission projects that will enhance reliability and accommodate demand growth. With data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) applications driving demand growth projections across the country, what are your expectations for demand growth throughout FirstEnergy’s service territory in the years and decades ahead?

BXT: There are forecasts, including from the Boston Consulting Group, predicting that the data center share of U.S. electricity consumption will triple by 2030. That’s a significant percentage of total consumption—equal to the energy use of approximately one-third of U.S. homes.

We can see the impact of AI and data centers coming, and we’re working on many fronts to prepare. This is a complex and challenging issue.

In the Midwest and mid-Atlantic United States, the concentration of data centers and AI applications is steadily growing. We’re seeing interest in our states where we have retired industrial facilities and former power plants. These sites often have existing transmission infrastructure and are very attractive to data centers.

We’re seeing a dramatic increase in the number of inquiries from data center developers. In 2023, we received 18 load study requests for facilities of 500 megawatts or greater. So far this year, we already have received 66 requests for studies of that size. Keep in mind: These developers are assessing many locations, so it’s not as simple as converting inquiries into future demand.

We were awarded about $800 million through PJM Interconnection to support transmission investment opportunities related to data centers in the Northern Virginia panhandle and Maryland. We continue to participate in competitive planning processes, and we certainly see more transmission opportunity for FirstEnergy as grid operators build capacity to enable demand growth.

We plan to update our demand forecast early in 2025 to reflect the activity we’re seeing in our region. While data centers are increasingly contributing to demand growth, our forecast also will reflect more traditional growth trends. Economic drivers like GDP and employment growth have been positive in our footprint, and we’re seeing the impacts of electrification of transportation and the energy transition as we look ahead.

“We're seeing a dramatic increase in the number of inquiries from data center developers.”

EP: You have built a long and impressive career in the electric power industry, at FirstEnergy and previously in leadership roles at Blackstone and at American Electric Power. In your view, how can the industry attract, retain, and develop the workers and leaders it needs to deliver the future of energy?

BXT: Working in the electric power industry isn’t merely a job. It’s a vocation. It powers lives, and it sustains modern living, economic development, and innovation. For those of us in this field, we take this responsibility seriously.

I think this collective mission of providing the lifeblood of electricity to our customers and communities will continue to appeal to great people who are looking to make a difference.

This is extremely meaningful work that can attract the brightest talent. You need to offer a positive culture grounded in safety and integrity. You need to provide competitive compensation. You need to value growth and development. You need to provide both the challenge and the psychological safety that encourages people to stretch themselves with a continuous improvement and reinvention mindset. You need to create and nurture an inclusive workplace.

To help attract new talent, we recently moved away from an unpaid training program for line and substation workers that limited our pool of candidates. Instead, we’ve introduced a new paid apprenticeship program. Through these apprenticeships, new hires learn foundational skills from veteran instructors. They learn in a classroom, in hands-on settings, and they have opportunities to develop relationships with and learn from seasoned employees. They are paid employees who are actively building their human capital.

This will help us attract the workers we need in a competitive labor market and opens up a great career path for a lot of people. It’s great for expanding the diversity of our workforce and hiring from within our communities.

We also have a strong talent pipeline with colleges, universities, and professional and community organizations to help build awareness of careers in the sector. We have a strong co-op and internship program that offers meaningful and challenging work, professional development, mentorship, and networking opportunities to college students in critical fields. In 2023, we converted more than 80 percent of graduating program participants to FirstEnergy employees, which is well above the benchmark of 57 percent reported by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

To retain talent, we strive to make sure everyone understands and feels the positive impact we have on our customers. Today’s career seekers—particularly young people entering the job market—crave a sense of purpose. And, we’re fortunate in this industry that our work is inherently important.

FirstEnergy's paid apprenticeship programs are helping to develop a skilled energy workforce.

EP: Extreme weather events are having a significant impact on the electric power industry across the country. How is FirstEnergy working to prioritize resilience and prepare for and respond to extreme conditions?

BXT: Protecting the energy grid and providing our customers with reliable power is a paramount issue for FirstEnergy and the industry. Constant vigilance for threats to the grid is essential, and we’re focused on advanced technologies and tools to improve reliability, resiliency, and grid security.

For example, thermal imaging cameras and helicopter patrols allow us to proactively identify and repair damaged equipment. Leveraging machine learning, we’re one of the first companies in the industry to build a new Advanced Vegetation Analytics Tool to help predict and reduce tree-related outages.

We’ve also developed and deployed a state-of-the-art modeling tool that helps us predict the scope of impact and prepare for response days ahead of an extreme weather event. It uses machine learning to develop detailed impact forecasts that help us plan our response. Post-event, its capabilities allow it to automatically evaluate its performance, then train itself to improve future outputs.

Hardening the grid is a significant component of our Energize365 investments. Across our system, we’re installing technologies that enhance resilience through automation, take advantage of our data, and increase operational flexibility. These investments provide grid management solutions and security that can reduce the number of outages and minimize the duration and impact of service interruptions—when they do occur.

We’re also thinking proactively about potential long-term threats. The electric system is at an inflection point. With projected load increases outpacing dispatchable generaiton in much of the country, the affordability and reliability of electricity are at risk. 

The industry needs to work collaboratively to address this urgent challenge. We’re working with our peers to engage state and federal stakeholders on resource adequacy concerns, and I urge the industry to make it a priority to safeguard reliability and help manage energy costs.

EP: Throughout your career, who have you looked to for advice and inspiration?

BXT: I've been fortunate to learn from many excellent leaders along the way, both in the electric power industry and on Wall Street. One of the values my mentors helped instill is to relentlessly pursue improvement. They encouraged me to listen and seek feedback, to correct course when needed and to adopt new technologies. I’ve found that there are always opportunities to learn and grow.

The service we provide—and the employees who are the heroes of our industry—inspire me to do my best every day. These men and women are called to serve at all hours, in all weather, in an inherently dangerous field, to provide our customers and communities with the service that enables modern living. I like to say that our strategy is simple, but the work is hard. Their passion inspires me to help make their jobs a little easier, serve our customers with the same dedication, and fulfill our commitments to our communities.

Electric Perspectives (EP): What are some of your proudest accomplishments from your decades of service in the electric power industry?

John Larsen (JL): As I look back on my career, I feel a strong sense of pride being part of a company that lives its values and purpose. I was fortunate to have many roles during my career. Each one helped me develop new skills and provided me with opportunities to collaborate with new members of our team.

Our purpose—“serving customers and building stronger communities”—is simple, yet it is very powerful. These six words say so much about the work that we do and the difference that we make. When we live our values and are guided by our purpose, good things happen for our customers, communities, and each other.

As I moved into the role of CEO, I wanted to prioritize my passion for our purpose while charting a course for a sustainable energy future, which we call our Clean Energy Blueprint. It serves as a roadmap that guides our renewable generation strategy, helps to shape our customer-focused investments, creates a healthier environment, and encourages innovation. Our goal is to provide customers with more choice, convenience, and control of their energy future.

I also am proud of our employees and retirees, who are amazing ambassadors for our company and our industry. They live, work, and play in the communities that we proudly serve. It is only through their dedication and passion that we succeed, and their connection to customers is incredible. Simply put, I am proud to say, “I work for Alliant Energy.”

Larsen (second from left) meets with response crews following a derecho that damaged large sections of Alliant Energy's service territory in 2020.

EP: Can you speak to the importance of this customer- and community-first mentality, for Alliant Energy and for the broader industry?

JL: At Alliant Energy, each day starts and ends with the customer in mind. Starting by deeply understanding our customers and their unmet needs, the team at Alliant Energy develops new products and services designed to deliver value to customers. We are focused on powering beyond the challenges of today, thinking about the futures of the communities that we proudly serve.

I am proud of our employees’ dedication, passion, and creative thinking as we shape the future of energy for our customers across Iowa and Wisconsin. Prioritizing customers also is the reason we established our charitable foundation, to support programs in our communities that address hunger and housing inequities, environmental stewardship, workforce development, and community safety and wellbeing services. Creating spaces where people and families can come together and create community through our corporate giving has been a hallmark of our work.

Our industry played an instrumental role during the pandemic in keeping our customers and communities connected with safe, reliable, and resilient energy. When so many elements in the world were uncertain in all our lives, our industry rose to the occasion, just like we do during extreme weather events. We cared for our neighbors and ensured everyone had the energy resources they needed, all while keeping our employees and customers safe.

EP: Alliant Energy has scaled up investments in wind and solar generation and embraced forward-looking emissions-reductions goals as part of its Clean Energy Blueprint. Do you see a connection between the delivery of resilient, clean energy and Alliant Energy’s efforts to prioritize its customers and communities?

JL: The energy sector is quickly becoming an industry driven by customer choice and preference. Building cleaner energy infrastructure, focusing on customer affordability, and investing in a seamless and personalized customer experience are a few of the core strategies our employees are working on each day.

As we developed our approach to diversifying our energy generation resources, we did not want to be driven by policy—instead, we wanted to remain guided by our customers. Putting our customers at the center of our planning enables us to shape policies that make sense for them. We strive to stay ahead and look over the horizon, because I am a firm believer that there is a cost to doing nothing. Sitting idle is not a strategy.

Our Clean Energy Blueprint is helping us diversify our energy generation mix while making smarter investments in our energy grid, including into battery storage systems. Our customers have asked us to keep clean and reliable energy top of mind while balancing the need for affordability, and we’ve heard them. In addition, our investments have delivered sustainable benefits by creating new jobs, providing new sources of local revenues, and fostering economic development.

Being in the Midwest, we are proud to partner with the agriculture community and many farmers across Iowa and Wisconsin. We are working with these groups to bring renewable energy projects to life—delivering economic benefits to our communities while delivering clean energy to our customers.

We know and understand the importance of being good stewards of the land. Serving rural customers for more than 100 years has kept us keenly aware of the need to coexist with our environment. It is one of the many reasons that Alliant Energy is investing in agrivoltaics—the study of crop or livestock production underneath or adjacent to solar panels. We are working with Iowa State University (ISU) and the University of Wisconsin on innovative projects that will advance research in this field.

As an example, one project with ISU near Ames, Iowa, is designed to demonstrate the types of crops that can grow—and thrive—under or near solar panels. This study will examine variables including panel types and mounting heights, and it will give us more information on the connections among energy output, crop production, and impacts on pollinator habitats.

“The energy sector is quickly becoming an industry driven by customer choice and preference.”

EP: You helped lead EEI’s CEO Task Force on Broadband. What role can electric companies play in helping to bring broadband to unserved and underserved communities?

JL: I was honored when Tom Kuhn asked me to lead EEI’s Broadband Task Force. My work on broadband was centered on the second part of our purpose: building stronger communities. I grew up in a small town, and I can recall how important it was to have strong schools, strong community pride, and strong services.

While the internet did not exist in my younger days, the principle of access to services like virtual healthcare, online education opportunities, and innovation with technology is now foundational. It is quite clear that communities need and expect Alliant Energy to help them build stronger communities. Chairing that task force was an easy fit and very enjoyable.

As energy companies with strong connections to our customers and a long history of efficiently constructing essential infrastructure, our industry is well-positioned to help address the middle-mile challenge.

Many companies, including Alliant Energy, have begun investing in technology to enhance connections between electric facilities and devices to make the energy grid smarter, more resilient, and more secure. With proper planning, electric companies can use available capacity on their fiber facility infrastructure—in partnership with last-mile internet service providers and economic development stakeholders—to make internet service more accessible and more affordable, to the communities and customers we serve.

With more than 800 miles of fiber facilities across Wisconsin and Iowa, we have and will continue to partner on mutually beneficial efforts to help connect our communities and customers with reliable and affordable internet and fiber services.

EP: You started your career as an engineer before advancing through the ranks at Alliant Energy and its affiliate companies. Given your background, what perspective can you offer on how our industry can continue to develop the careers of promising young professionals?

JL: When I started my career, I had ideas of the type of work I wanted to do. I wanted to solve problems and design systems that would help people connect to the safe and reliable energy they counted on. Throughout my career, I have found myself at what I like to call intersections.

Each intersection brought a new opportunity that did not always look like I thought it might—whether that was the project assignment, the state the work was in, or the size of the team with which I would be working. But, my openness to change allowed me to walk into each of those opportunities with curiosity to learn new things and to use my abilities to solve problems and grow. This led to new and larger opportunities along the way.

I have learned so much from others—people of all backgrounds and at all different points in their career journeys. Especially in the role I have now as Executive Chair, many people come to me for answers or advice. My job is to listen to the challenges that our teams are facing and help employees find answers. Most of the time, they already know.

My role today is to enable and to unleash the talent in others. As a leader, it is important to remember that you cannot do things alone. You must leverage the power and strength of the team.

EP: Extreme weather events are impacting large swaths of the country with increasing intensity and frequency. During your tenure at Alliant Energy, you helped guide the company through Winter Storm Uri, the 2020 derecho, and other natural disasters. What can you say about Alliant Energy’s and the industry’s need to prioritize reliability and resilience in the face of extreme weather?

JL: One thing I have learned about the uptick in storm activity over the years is that, while the Midwest was not built to withstand hurricane-force winds, its people are built to withstand anything. I was reminded of this after visiting several Iowa communities as the clouds lifted after the 2020 derecho windstorm, the largest storm event in our company’s history. While the devastation was greater than any picture could bring to life, the resilience I saw in our crews and customers was nothing short of remarkable.

We were proud to receive EEI’s Emergency Response Award for working collaboratively with mutual assistance crews to restore electricity following the derecho. Looking back, I am proud and grateful that we conducted this work safely and with the gracious support and patience of our customers.

Similarly, in 2021, after Winter Storm Uri, which brought extreme cold temperatures and record snowfall to parts of our service territory, our amazing employees came together to serve customers. As a result of their efforts—coupled with smart investments we’ve made to ensure reliability and resilience and proactive planning by our energy markets team—we not only weathered the storm, but we continued to supply reliable and affordable energy throughout the storm and shielded our customers from significant rate increases.

These storms, and the increased frequency of them, illustrate why continued, proactive grid investments are needed to provide the reliable and resilient energy that our customers and communities count on.

Our customers have seen the benefits of our forward-thinking investments, including our undergrounding efforts. We have now placed more than 25 percent of our distribution grid underground, with plans to continue this work across our service territory in the coming years. Our communities are counting on us to plan ahead and to keep the lights on and the natural gas flowing, allowing them to focus on what matters most to them when Mother Nature is having a bad day.

“These storms, and the increased frequency of them, illustrate why continued, proactive grid investments are needed...”

EP: Thomas Edison once said, “To have a great idea, have a lot of them.” What, or who, have been some of your greatest sources of ideas, inspiration, or creativity throughout your career?

JL: My ideas have typically come from listening to employees and our customers. I have always enjoyed spending time at field locations—interacting with employees and our customers—and hearing how we can improve how we deliver our product and better serve our customers and communities.

As I would reflect on their words, it was clear to me that the foundation of great ideas came from common-sense comments. I felt that our success would be enhanced if our plans were simple to understand and execute. Our employees are so committed to customers. I have always enjoyed spending time with members of our team, and this is something that I will miss dearly in retirement.