Named

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has named a former Boots & Coots executive to lead a newly created oilfield services unit that will house the producer’s growing business and complement its massive U.S. drilling program.

PG&E Corp. has named Anthony Earley as its new chairman, CEO and president. Earley is the first PG&E CEO to come from outside the utility in PG&E’s more than 100-year history. As head of Michigan-based DTE Energy and its core businesses of Detroit Edison Co. and Michigan Consolidated Gas Co., Earley was credited with running two of the nation’s more respected electric and natural gas utility companies, according to PG&E lead director Lee Cox, who has been serving as interim CEO since Peter Darbee left earlier this year (see NGI, May 2). “We looked across the industry and found the person best qualified to help us win back public confidence,” Cox said. Earley began his utility career with Long Island Lighting Co. in 1985 and joined DTE in 1994. He previously was an officer in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine program, and holds an undergraduate degree, as well as graduate engineering and law degrees, from the University of Notre Dame.

PG&E Corp. said Tuesday it has named DTE Energy Anthony Earley, 62, as its new chairman, CEO and president, filling a vacancy created last April when the former PG&E head retired abruptly as the company’s San Francisco-based combination utility was facing mounting public criticism for its handling of the San Bruno pipeline rupture and explosion.

Sempra Energy named a new CEO, Debra Reed, 55, more than a year in advance of CEO Donald Felsinger’s mandatory retirement at age 65 late next year. A 33-year employee with the Sempra companies, Reed was also added to the board of directors where Felsinger will continue as executive chairman until his retirement. Sempra COO Neal Schmale will remain in his current role until his planned retirement later this year. Felsinger said the Sempra board early on identified Reed as a top candidate to succeed him, and with all of the business units “performing well financially, we felt the timing was ideal to begin our transition to a new generation of leadership at the company.” Reed had been executive vice president since April last year and was CEO of the Sempra California utilities before that. She is an engineering graduate from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and began her career as a systems engineer with Sempra’s Southern California Gas Co. utility.

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has named Steve Berberich as its new CEO, replacing Yakout Mansour, who retired recently after a six-year stint heading the state grid operator. A former executive with Dallas-based TXU, Berberich joined CAISO in 2005 and has served since 2010 as COO at CAISO’s Folsom, CA headquarters. Keith Casey had served as interim CEO since Mansour left CAISO.

Houston-based NiSource Midstream Services (NMS) named John Bonn president and Brian Raber vice president of operations and engineering, the NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) unit said. Bonn, who has worked in the past for Monarch Natural Gas, Enterprise Product Partners (EPP), El Paso Corp. and Delhi Gas Pipeline, will be responsible for the development of investment opportunities in the midstream sector and extending the NGT&S presence to the wellhead, with an initial focus on the Marcellus Shale region. Raber previously worked for Hoover Energy Partners, EPP, TEPPCO, El Paso and Moore Control Systems Inc. He will be responsible for all operations and engineering activities for NMS and report directly to Bonn.

Houston-based NiSource Midstream Services (NMS) named John Bonn president and Brian Raber vice president of operations and engineering, the NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) unit said. Bonn, who has worked in the past for Monarch Natural Gas, Enterprise Product Partners (EPP), El Paso Corp. and Delhi Gas Pipeline, will be responsible for the development of investment opportunities in the midstream sector and extending the NGT&S presence to the wellhead, with an initial focus on the Marcellus Shale region. Raber previously worked for Hoover Energy Partners, EPP, TEPPCO, El Paso and Moore Control Systems Inc. He will be responsible for all operations and engineering activities for NMS and report directly to Bonn.

Dynegy Inc. announced Monday is has named a new interim CEO, E. Hunter Harrison, the former CEO at Canadian National Railway Co. and a current independent Dynegy director. He replaces another independent director, David Biegler, who was serving as the independent power provider’s CEO on an interim basis since Bruce Williamson resigned (see Daily GPI, Feb. 23). Biegler will continue to serve on the Dynegy board along with other independent directors Patricia Hammick, Victor Grijalva, Howard Sheppard and William Trubeck. As announced in February, these directors are not standing for reelection at the company’s annual shareholders meeting in June15. Hammick will continue as chairman of the board. A search continues by the board for a permanent president/CEO of the company. Harrison, 66, had a long career as a CEO and board member of several companies in the U.S. and Canadian companies. Four new directors joined Dynegy’s board in March (see Daily GPI, March 10) — selected by one of the company’s two major shareholders, billionaire Carl Icahn or Seneca Capital — and Harrison has ties to these new board members, according to Biegler who characterized the new interim CEO’s selection as “an important step as we execute the transition to new leadership.”

The Interior Department Friday announced the industry, academic and federal government representatives who have been named to the Ocean Energy Advisory Committee, a permanent advisory panel of the nation’s leading scientific, engineering and technical experts who will provide guidance on improving offshore safety, well containment and spill response.