Duke Energy named Kendal Bowman as its North Carolina state president, effective January 1. She will succeed Stephen De May, who is retiring after 33 years with the company.
Duke has about 3.7 million electric retail customers and 786,000 natural gas customers in North Carolina. The president’s role puts her in charge of the performance of Duke’s regulated utilities in the state, including oversight of its regulatory, government and community affairs.
De May “consistently positioned Duke Energy for success, whether through financing the company’s growth cost-effectively, advocating for our customers’ interests during federal tax reform, or advancing our clean energy transition in North Carolina together with our many stakeholders,” CEO Lynn Good said in a press release.
De May has worked at Duke since 1990. He became N.C. president in November 2018 after serving 11 years as treasurer. Earlier he served as vice president of energy and environmental policy and led the company’s business unit finance and corporate finance groups.
Bowman, 50, joined Duke predecessor Progress Energy in 1999 and has been vice president of regulatory affairs and policy in North Carolina. She previously was a deputy general counsel.
Bowman is on the N.C. Energy Policy Council and the board of Advanced Energy Corp., a nonprofit energy consulting firm in Raleigh. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from Stetson University in Florida.
De May in North Carolina and South Carolina president Michael Callahan report to Julie Janson, CEO of Duke Energy Carolinas.
Duke is one of the largest U.S. energy companies with regulated electric utilities in the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. It announced several senior-level executive changes in August, including naming Brian Savoy as chief financial officer and adding new responsibilities for Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe, the company’s chief legal officer, and Harry Sideris, who oversees customer experience, solutions and services. They report to Good, who has been CEO since July 2013.