SAN DIEGO _ Coming just days after Sempra Energy wrapped up the largest acquisition in the company's history, Debra Reed announced Monday she is stepping down as president and CEO.
Reed, 61, has led the San Diego-based Fortune 500 company since 2011 and is not only one of the few women running a major corporation but is one of the only women at the top of a major energy company.
"She's had a tremendous career and she has been a trailblazer for women at the top of electric utilities in the United States," said Gary Ackerman, executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum, an organization based in Sacramento whose 90 members in the West buy and sell power.
Sempra's board of directors elected company chief financial officer Jeff Martin to assume Reed's chief executive officer role and group president of infrastructure businesses Joseph Householder to take over the duties as company president.
Reed will retain her CEO and president duties until May 1 and will stay on until Dec. 1, serving as Sempra Energy's executive chairman. She did not give a specific reason for her retirement but in a statement Monday morning alluded to her long tenure at the company.
"Last month, I reached my 40th year in the Sempra Energy family of companies," Reed said.
Late last week, Sempra completed the final steps to acquire Oncor, the largest utility in Texas, for $9.45 billion.
The transaction greatly expands Sempra's reach into one of the biggest energy markets in North America and, together with subsidiaries San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas, creates a utility holding company with the largest customer base in the U.S.
Sempra also has assets in Mexico and South America and, along with international partners, is building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Louisiana and has plans to build another in Port Arthur, Texas.
