FirstEnergy picks former AEP exec Brian Tierney as its new CEO

Brian Tierney, a former executive for AEP, will become FirstEnergy's newest president and CEO.
By

AKRON, Ohio — FirstEnergy has picked a former AEP executive to be its newest CEO.

The company announced Monday morning that Brian Tierney will be named CEO and president in June. Tierney, currently working for the investment firm Blackstone, spent 23 years working at Ohio-based American Electric Power, better known as AEP.

Tierney, 55, will succeed John Somerhalder, who was serving as the interim president and CEO. Somerhalder will continue to be the chair of FirstEnergy’s board.

FirstEnergy’s last CEO, Steven Strah, unexpectedly announced his retirement in September, which is when Somerhalder became interim CEO.

Strah was named CEO of FirstEnergy in March 2021 after the company fired its previous CEO, Chuck Jones. FirstEnergy later admitted that Jones helped conspire to pay $60 million in bribes to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s political operation to secure the passage of House Bill 6.

Jones, Householder, and Randazzo have all denied breaking the law. Only Householder among the three has been charged with a crime.

On March 9, Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges were convicted of taking part in the bribery scheme. The two men will be sentenced at a later date.

Tierney joined Blackstone in 2021 and is a leader in the investment firm’s infrastructure division. Prior to that he was the executive vice president of strategy for AEP.

He was AEP’s chief financial officer from 2009 to 2020, and held various positions in his 23 years at the utility company.

In a statement, Somerhalder called Tierney a proven leader with deep experience in the energy industry.

“We could not have selected a better suited candidate than Brian,” Somerhalder said. “We look forward to working closely with him to build on FirstEnergy’s momentum and enhance value for our shareholders and other stakeholders.”

Based in Akron, FirstEnergy is one of the largest companies in Ohio and was 343th on the Fortune 500 list in 2022.

Sean McDonnell covers business and consumer topics for cleveland.com. You can reach him at smcdonnell@cleveland.com Read previous stories at this link.

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