BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kimberly Harris, president of Puget Sound Energy, was named chief executive officer, effective March 1, by the board of directors of Washington’s oldest local energy utility. Harris, who has been with PSE since 1999, succeeds Steve Reynolds, who retired after heading the utility since 2002.
“Kimberly and her management team are ready to hit the ground running to provide PSE customers with great service, reasonable energy costs and thoughtful stewardship of the environment,” said Bill Ayer, PSE chairman of the board. “Her strong local ties, vision and leadership will be vital in shaping our region’s energy future.”
As chief executive officer, Harris joins Ayer, who is also chairman, president and chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group, and Herbert Simon, a University of Washington regent and member of Tacoma investment firm Johnson Simon LLC, as local members of Bellevue-based PSE’s board of directors.
“Our customers count on us at work and at home every day, and I am honored to take on these new responsibilities,” said Harris. “My focus will be on finding ways the many emerging technologies and innovations in energy can help us improve service and reliability for our customers while also helping to preserve the Puget Sound area.”
Harris, 46, came to the Puget Sound area in 1995 to practice law with the firm of Perkins Coie. She joined PSE as associate general counsel four years later. Prior to being named president of PSE in June 2010, Harris served as executive vice president and chief resource officer beginning in 2007. In this role she led the operation of the company’s wind power facilities, which, with a capacity to produce the electricity equivalent to that used by more than 100,000 homes, is the nation’s second-largest utility owned and operated wind resource. She also guided development of the company’s Lower Snake River Wind Project, currently under construction near Pomeroy, Garfield County, which will add to the utility’s renewable energy resources in Washington when it enters service in 2012.
Harris was also responsible for the utility’s residential and business energy efficiency services, with her twelve-year career with PSE encompassing project development, contract management and government relations. She has served as senior vice president of Regulatory Policy and Energy Efficiency, vice president of Regulatory and Government Affairs, associate general counsel, and director of Load Resource Strategies.
Harris serves on the Washington state Clean Energy Leadership Council and the Energy Strategy Advisory Committee. She also has a long history of civic involvement and is a member of the board of directors of the American Red Cross of King and Kitsap counties. She is married with two grown children.
About Puget Sound Energy
Washington state’s oldest local energy utility, Puget Sound Energy serves more than 1 million electric customers and 750,000 natural gas customers in 11 counties. A subsidiary of Puget Energy, PSE meets the energy needs of its growing customer base through incremental, cost-effective energy efficiency, procurement of sustainable energy resources, and far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. PSE employees are dedicated to providing great customer service and delivering energy that is safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and environmentally responsible. For more information, visit www.PSE.com.
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