Duke Energy announced that Kendal Bowman will become North Carolina state president, effective Jan. 1. She will succeed Stephen De May, who is retiring after 33 years with the company. As president of Duke Energy's utility operations in North Carolina, where the company has approximately 3.7 million electric retail customers and 786,000 natural gas customers, Bowman will be responsible for the performance of Duke Energy's regulated utilities in North Carolina, along with leading state and local regulatory and government relations, and community affairs.

She will also manage continued efforts to engage and work with customers and stakeholders across many topics, including North Carolina's clean energy transition. De May has been with Duke Energy since 1990 and has served as its North Carolina president since November 2018. Previously he was treasurer and senior vice president of tax for Duke Energy; during his 11 years as treasurer, he also led the corporate risk management and investor relations functions at various times.

Earlier he served as vice president of energy and environmental policy, led the company's business unit finance and corporate finance groups, and was a director of the company's former real estate development business, Crescent Resources. In her current role as vice president of regulatory affairs and policy for North Carolina, Bowman manages the company's presence in all regulatory matters before the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC), including the Carolinas Carbon Plan. She works closely with policymakers and other stakeholders to find working, sustainable solutions to energy policy needs, providing leadership in the development and implementation of public policy in the best interest of the customers and communities served by Duke Energy.

Earlier, Bowman served as deputy general counsel for Duke Energy, managing all legal state regulatory functions for North Carolina. Prior to that, she was associate general counsel for Progress Energy in North Carolina and South Carolina. She previously led the federal legal regulatory affairs group and was responsible for all Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) matters for Progress Energy Carolinas and Progress Energy Florida.

She has been with the company since 1999. Bowman, 50, currently serves on the North Carolina Energy Policy Council and serves on the board of directors for Advanced Energy Corp. A native of Clarksville, Va., she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Virginia and a law degree from Stetson University.