Black Hills competitors

Christopher Franklin is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Essential Utilities, Inc. Previously he served as chief operating officer of regulated operations for the Company, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater utilities. In his former role, Chris was responsible for the Company’s regulated operations, including customer operations throughout the company’s entire service area, which includes approximately 3 million people in eight states. A 27 year veteran of the Company, Chris has held executive roles in public affairs, customer operations and more recently as regional president of the company’s southern and Midwest operations. While holding that post, he significantly increased the performance and earnings power of these diverse state operations, while simultaneously serving as senior vice president of the company’s corporate and public affairs, where he was responsible for the Company's federal, state and municipal legislative affairs, investor relations and communications. Since joining the Company in 1992 as director, corporate and public affairs, Chris headed several successful projects, including rebranding the company and the passage of legislation designed to provide state-regulated water utility customers with improved water quality while allowing a fair and reasonable return for shareholders. Chris is a strategic leader focused on the best interest of employees, customers, shareholders and the public. He is an expert in enhancing profitability; developing strategic growth initiatives; and strategically spending capital and operating budgets while implementing controls to ensure expense discipline and environmental compliance. Active in the utility industry, Chris serves as a director on the board of NAWC. Until recently sold to Fortis, Chris served on the board of directors of ITC Inc. He chaired the board committee on operations and served on the board audit committee.

Dennis was appointed to the position of CEO of AVANGRID in July 2020. With more than 25 years in the energy sector, Dennis joined AVANGRID from Sempra Energy where he was Executive Vice President and Group President and Chief Sustainability Officer. Throughout his career, Dennis has held a variety of leadership positions in gas and electric utilities as well as renewables, including Chairman and CEO of Southern California Gas Co., and Chief Financial Officer of SunPower Corp., San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co. Dennis holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford University and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University. Dennis is on the boards of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Auto Club Enterprises and recently served as Chairman of the Board for the California Latino Economic Institute. He previously served as Chairman of the California Business Roundtable and on the board of the United Way - Greater Los Angeles. Dennis has been named one of the “100 Most Influential Hispanics” by Hispanic Business magazine.

Lynn J. Good is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy, a Fortune 500 company. Good is an Ohio native and graduated from Miami University where she earned a BS in Systems Analysis and in Accounting (1981).

Strah began his career with The Illuminating Company in 1984. He later served as director of Business Services for FirstEnergy's Northern Region - Ohio, and director of Operations Support Services for the company's Western Region - Ohio. In 2001, he was named president of the Northern Region for Jersey Central Power & Light, and in 2005, he was named regional president of Ohio Edison. He was promoted to vice president, Distribution Support, for FirstEnergy Utilities in 2011. and he was named senior vice president and president of FirstEnergy Utilities in 2015. He was elected senior vice president and chief financial officer of FirstEnergy in March 2018, and was elected to his current position in May 2020.

Jimmy Addison is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for SCANA Corporation. As CFO, Addison is responsible for planning, directing and overseeing the organization’s finance functions including accounting, financial planning, investor relations, treasury and new nuclear finance, along with oversight of information services and technology. Addison also serves as president of SCANA Energy Georgia, which provides retail natural gas, and as president of SCANA Energy Marketing, which provides wholesale and large retail natural gas sales across the southeast.  

Alan Armstrong began his career at Williams as an engineer more than 30 years ago. Today, as president and chief executive officer, Alan leads a dedicated team of nearly 5,000 employees that handle 30% of the natural gas in the United States used every day to heat our homes, cook our food and generate our electricity. Williams works closely with customers to provide the necessary infrastructure to serve growing markets and safely deliver natural gas products to reliably fuel the clean energy economy. Under his leadership, Williams’ natural gas-focused strategy has driven significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, lowered consumers’ utility bills and paved the way for investments in renewable energy. As one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in the U.S., Williams has led the midstream space in meeting the growing demand for American-made energy while outlining practical and immediate steps toward a clean energy future by setting a goal of 56% absolute reduction in company-wide GHG emissions by 2030.Alan is a well-known speaker and respected panelist at energy conferences and seminars, as well as philanthropic and corporate events. He serves on the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute and is a member of the National Petroleum Council, where he most recently chaired the Council’s 2019 Energy Infrastructure Study. He is also a member of the Business Roundtable. Additionally, Alan serves on the boards of several education-focused organizations including as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Oklahoma Foundation, Junior Achievement, USA and 3DE. He is a member of the boards of The Williams Foundation and Gilcrease Museum, as well as a member of the Distinguished Graduates Society of the Gallogly College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma.Alan lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a proud Sooner with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Oklahoma.