Retiring

Hal Kvisle, president and CEO of TransCanada Corp., is retiring June 30. Russ Girling, who is now the COO, is to take the reins the following day. Kvisle said he would assist Girling with the transition through Aug. 31 and be available as an adviser to him after that. Kvisle joined TransCanada in 1999 as executive vice president and assumed the CEO role in 2001. In 2008 Kvisle was named Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year. “The TransCanada team has achieved and exceeded the objectives we set for ourselves more than a decade ago,” Kvisle said. “Our Canadian gas transmission business is expanding to move BC [British Columbia] shale gas to market. We are working to extend our Canadian system to connect northern gas from Mackenzie and Alaska.” In the past decade, “we’ve built Canada’s largest private sector power business and North America’s second largest natural gas storage business…” It was under Kvisle’s leadership that TransCanada won the state concession to construct the Alaska gasline to carry North Slope gas to Lower 48 markets (see NGI, April 5). Girling joined TransCanada in 1994. Before he was appointed to the COO position in July 2009 he held several leadership positions at TransCanada including president, pipelines; CFO and executive vice president, corporate development; and executive vice president, power. Girling also is the current chairman of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.

Hal Kvisle, president and CEO of TransCanada Corp., is retiring June 30, the company said Thursday. Russ Girling, who is now the COO, is to take the reins the following day.

Hal Kvisle, president and CEO of TransCanada Corp., is retiring June 30, the company said Thursday. Russ Girling, who is now the COO, is to take the reins the following day.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff announced that Susan J. Court, director of the Office of Enforcement (OE), is retiring after 27 years of service in the federal government. Her successor will be Norman Bay, a former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico and current associate professor of law at the University of New Mexico. He is expected to join the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 6.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff announced that Susan J. Court, director of the Office of Enforcement (OE), is retiring after 27 years of service in the federal government. Her successor will be Norman Bay, a former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico and current associate professor of law at the University of New Mexico. He is expected to join the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 6.

Lee K. Boothby, 47, president of Newfield Exploration Co., was elected CEO at the company’s annual meeting. He succeeds retiring David A. Trice, 61, who agreed to serve a one-year term as nonexecutive chairman. Boothby joined Newfield 10 years ago and previously served as senior vice president of acquisitions and business development. He also has headed Newfield’s Midcontinent division. Gary D. Packer, 46, who most recently served as president of Newfield’s Rocky Mountain division, was promoted to executive vice president and COO. Terry W. Rathert, 56, a founding member of the company, was promoted to executive vice president and CFO by the board. Daryll T. Howard, 46, was promoted to vice president of the Rocky Mountains division, succeeding Packer. In addition, Samuel E. Langford, 51, was promoted to vice president of corporate development.

Retiring U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-LA, will become president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in Washington DC when he leaves the Congress at the end of the year. The 61-year old Tauzin served for several years as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee before stepping down early this year because of intestinal cancer. He announced at the time he would not seek reelection after serving 13 terms in the House. He has credited the advanced, expert medical treatment and surgery he received at Johns Hopkins with saving his life. His son, Billy Tauzin III, lost a runoff earlier this month to Democrat Charlie Melancon to succeed to the elder Tauzin’s the 3rd Congressional District seat.

On the eve of its annual shareholder meeting Tuesday in Newport Beach, CA, Sempra Energy’s General Counsel John Light announced he is retiring effective June 30 as the executive vice president/general counsel for the San Diego-based utility holding company. Light, 62, was a long-time partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins for 31 years before accepting the general counsel’s position at the newly formed Sempra Energy in mid-1998. He plans to return to Latham & Watkins’s LA office. Light directed the legal affairs of the newly merged holding companies, Pacific Enterprises and Enova for Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas and Electric Co., respectively, and helped Sempra’s current diversified strategy that includes various merchant operations, in addition to two the state’s major private-sector utilities. Sempra CEO Stephen Baum said Light’s role was “integral in Sempra’s growth and success.”

Entergy Corp. has hired Jerald V. Halvorsen to head its Washington, DC, government relations office. Halvorsen will be retiring later this year as president of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the interstate gas pipeline industry’s main advocacy group in the nation’s capitol. He has been president of INGAA since 1987. Halvorsen will join Entergy as vice president, federal governmental affairs on Sept. 1 and will succeed S. M. Henry Brown Jr., who will retire Dec. 1. Prior to joining INGAA, Halvorsen was vice president for government affairs of the American Trucking Association. He also served as senior vice president for congressional affairs of the National Coal Association. He began his career with Consolidated Edison Co. in New York City in 1969, serving as coordinator of environmental affairs. Entergy owns and operates power plants with about 30,000 MW of electric generating capacity and delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.