AEP CEO Nick Akins to Step Down, Julie Sloat Tapped as Next Company Head
American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) long-serving chairman, president, and CEO, Nick Akins, will step down as CEO on Jan. 1, 2023, and has already passed the company’s presidency to Julie A. Sloat, AEP executive vice president, and chief financial officer (CFO).
Sloat, 53, will become the power generating company’s CEO in January, making her the first woman to serve at the helm of the giant power generating company and only the seventh CEO in its 116-year history.
Sloat’s election as CEO by the AEP Board of Directors on Aug. 10 marks a notable executive shuffle for the public utility holding company, which is in the midst of a historic transformation into a more agile and customer-focused provider of energy solutions. As CEO, Sloat will be expected to navigate the massive company through the energy transition, which is being driven by multiple, and often conflicting factors, including changing customer needs, evolving policies, stakeholder demands, demographics, competitive offerings, technologies, and commodity prices.…