After a selection process lasting more than a year, the Board of CPS Energy today in a special meeting named Doyle Beneby as its new President and Chief Executive Officer.   A unanimous choice by the CPS Energy Board, Beneby, 50, will leave his current position as President of Exelon Power, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp. in Chicago.

Beneby’s contract is effective August 1.  He will replace Milton Lee as President and CEO upon Lee’s retirement on September 30.  Lee joined CPS Energy in 2000, serving as CEO since 2002. He announced his retirement plans last September.  Since last November, Jelynne LeBlanc Burley has served as Acting General Manager.

“CPS Energy started the search process for a new President and CEO in March, 2009, when the Board appointed a Leadership Development Committee, comprised of two trustees:   Derrick Howard as chairman and Dr. Homer Guevara, “ CPS Energy  Chairman Charles Foster said.  “They were charged with leading us through an orderly process to find a successor to Milton Lee. After the management turnover of last fall, the executive search firm of Korn/Ferry International was retained to assist in identifying and screening candidates.  Following an initial screening of applicants, the list was narrowed to four finalists. All candidates’ names were kept confidential because each of them already had key positions with other companies or entities and neither CPS nor the individuals wanted to jeopardize their relationships with their existing employers. Otherwise, we would not have been able to attract a top-caliber list of applicants.”

Foster said the four finalists  were each interviewed in May of this year by CPS Energy Board members, City officials (Council members Ray Lopez, Ivy Taylor and Reed Williams; City Manager Sheryl Sculley; and Robbie Greenblum, Chief of Staff for Mayor Julian Castro) and two members of the CPS Energy Citizens Advisory Group (John Pavlovsky and Dr. Beck Steiner).

“The Selection Committee received comments about each of the finalists from the City and Citizens Advisory committees and CPS Energy board members in June,” he said. “The committee began processing that input, leading up to today’s decision, which really represents a consensus of everyone who interviewed the finalists.”

“It became obvious to all of us that Doyle Beneby’s background in all phases of the power industry is outstanding and then, in the interviews when we really had an opportunity to get the sense of him as a person, he emerged as the most qualified candidate,” Foster said. “His broad experience will be very valuable to CPS Energy as we move forward with future power generation strategies, all of which will require intensive contract negotiations on everything from energy supplies to construction of new generating facilities.”

“Let me also thank Jelynne Burley for her outstanding service to CPS Energy during a difficult time of transition,” Foster said. “She stepped into the post of Acting General Manager last fall and has done a very fine job of keeping CPS Energy running smoothly while dealing with difficult issues like the NRG lawsuit. She remains a valuable member of the CPS senior management team and the Board hopes that she will want to stay with the company.”

“Bringing in a utility executive of Doyle Beneby’s caliber and experience is going to be a great benefit not only for CPS but for our city’s long-term energy future,” Mayor Julian Castro said.  “He will help us take a fresh look at our energy alternatives and the best way to bring them to bear for San Antonio.”

“I also want to add my thanks to Jelynne Burley for her special service over the past months,” the Mayor said.  “She is a wonderful asset for CPS and San Antonio.”

“This was a very professionally handled process and I am confident we met with the top candidates,” Derrick Howard, CPS Energy Board Member and chairman of the leadership development committee, said. “Doyle Beneby is an incredibly talented individual who has the experience and leadership skills to take CPS Energy into the future.”

“First, I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the board of trustees for their professionalism, courtesy and diligence throughout this process,” Beneby said. “My family and I are incredibly excited about this opportunity – first, because CPS Energy is a wonderful company with a sterling reputation in the industry, and also because San Antonio is a great place to live and make a contribution.”

“Although I leave a large, investor-owned utility, I believe the skill sets that I have acquired over the years in all facets of the business will transfer very well to CPS Energy,” he said.  “Whether investor-owned or municipally-owned, the challenges for utilities are essentially the same – continuing to deliver reliable, affordable service to customers, keeping employees safe and challenged, protecting the environment, and executing sensible, cost-effective carbon reduction and renewable energy strategies that include a mix of energy alternatives.”

The CPS Board also unanimously approved Beneby’s compensation package. Specifics of that package include a base salary of $360,000 per year and eligibility to receive compensation pursuant to both an annual and a long-term incentive plan. In addition to his base salary and incentive plans, Beneby will be entitled to a relocation allowance, other standard expense reimbursements, participation in CPS Energy’s benefit plans and other benefits that CPS Energy generally provides to its other executives. 

“This compensation package is in line with our continuing effort to attract and retain top-quality executive leadership for CPS Energy, the nation’s largest municipally owned energy utility providing both natural gas and electric service,” Foster said. “Working with the Board to establish the goals for San Antonio’s energy future and then managing the organization to achieve those goals is a big job, and this package is completely appropriate for a person assuming that leadership role.”

Beneby served two stints at Exelon, and most recently was charged with overseeing  the company’s fossil and hydro generation operations, outage and work management, business operations, engineering and technical support, new generation development and operational oversight of co-owned facilities and purchased power contracts, including Exelon’s New England holdings. Exelon Power has 108 generating units at 23 different sites in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Texas (in the Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston areas).

He has also worked as vice president for construction and maintenance with PECO, an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon which serves more than two million electric and natural gas customers in Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania.  Previously with Exelon, Beneby was general manager for the Exelon Power fleet of peak demand power plants, based in Philadelphia. Before joining Exelon, he worked for Consumers Energy in Michigan (6.5 million customers in all of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula counties) and Florida Power & Light where he spent 17 years in a number of positions.

Beneby serves on the Board of Trustees for Lincoln University which counts among its alumni former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He is a member of the National Hydro Association, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Research Advisory Council and American Association of Blacks in Energy.

He will be moving to San Antonio with his wife, Christine, and their two children.