DTE executive chairman Gerry Anderson to retire

DTE Energy Co. Executive Chairman Gerry Anderson will retire this summer after almost 30 years with the company.

Anderson, 63, will retire on June 30 after joining DTE in 1993. Jerry Norcia, 59, who succeeded Anderson as DTE's CEO in 2019, will assume the role of chairman of the board on May 5 when Anderson's term ends as the Detroit-based utility company is retiring coal plants and is in the midst of a transformation toward cleaner energy.

“My wife, Lizann, encouraged me to take an interview with DTE nearly 30 years ago,” Anderson said in a statement. “I’m so glad she did — I’ve been blessed with 29 wonderful years at a great company full of so many wonderful people.

“Jerry Norcia and I have worked closely together for nearly 20 of those years. He is a strong leader, and I am proud that the company is in his hands.”

During his time as CEO starting in 2010, Anderson made himself a leader in the energy sector's transformation. He oversaw investments into renewable energy, planned the retirements of coal-fired generation and set goals for net-zero carbon emissions. He brought that similar emphasis into a national discussion with the Edison Electric Institute, the association that gathers the leadership of U.S. electric companies, which he currently chairs.

“Gerry transformed our company’s culture, drove a highly successful growth agenda, and put us on a path to net zero carbon emissions that also supports reliable and affordable energy for customers,” Norcia said in a statement. “He readied DTE for long-term success, and I look forward to continuing to accelerate our progress."

Anderson is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has his Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. He joined DTE from management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and held executive leadership roles throughout the company before being named president in 2004. He became chairman in 2011.

“I thank Gerry for leading the board through a decade of rapid and sustainable progress," Ruth Shaw, lead independent director of the board, said in a statement, "and I congratulate Jerry on his new role."

In addition to leading DTE's energy transformation, Anderson is an advocate for economic growth in Michigan. He founded Detroit's Regional CEO Group, a gathering of influential business leaders, and chairs the Detroit Regional Partnership, the region's economic development engine. He will continue his role on the partnership's board.

“Michigan has strong corporate leaders, but Gerry Anderson stands out among them as one of the very best," Maureen Donohue Krauss, the partnership's CEO, said in a statement. "He’s served as a transformational leader at the company and rallied the regional business community around a vision for how to build a more prosperous Detroit Region."

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Anderson also chaired the Michigan Economic Recovery Council, a statewide group of business leaders, healthcare experts and university presidents that advised Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during the early months of the crisis. Anderson was also the chairman of Business Leaders for Michigan, the state's business roundtable, from 2020 to 2021.

Despite his retirement, Anderson says he's not done advocating for the acceleration toward a cleaner energy future.

“Climate change," he added, "continues to be among the most important public policy issues of our time, and I intend to keep working to address it."

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble