FirstEnergy Corp. announced that John W. Somerhalder II, chair of the FirstEnergy Board of Directors, has been named interim chief executive officer (CEO), effective September 16, 2022. Mr. Somerhalder's appointment follows Steven E. Strah's decision to retire as CEO of FirstEnergy.

Mr. Somerhalder will continue to serve as chair of the FirstEnergy Board and work closely with the company's executive team. The FirstEnergy Board will commence a search of external candidates to identify a permanent CEO. The Board of Directors has completed its previously announced management review.

Mr. Somerhalder, age 66, has served as chair of the Board since May 2022, and previously served as vice chair and executive director of the company from March 2021 to May 2022. Prior to joining FirstEnergy, Mr. Somerhalder served as interim president and chief executive officer of CenterPoint Energy Inc., an electric and natural gas utility serving several U.S. markets, from February 2020 to July 2020, and served as a member of the CenterPoint Energy Board of Directors from 2016 through July 2020. Mr. Somerhalder also served as interim president and chief executive officer of Colonial Pipeline Company, a U.S. refined products pipeline company, from February 2017 to October 2017.

Prior to that, Mr. Somerhalder served as president and chief executive officer of AGL Resources Inc., an energy services holding company in the southeastern United States, from March 2006 through his retirement in December 2015, and served as chairman of the company's Board from November 2007 until December 2015. Prior to joining AGL Resources, Mr. Somerhalder served in a number of roles with El Paso Corporation, a publicly traded natural gas and related energy products provider, where he spent almost 30 years, starting his career as an engineer and progressing through leadership roles before being named president of El Paso Pipeline Group and executive vice president of El Paso Corporation. Mr. Somerhalder also previously held directorships with Gulfport Energy Corp., Crestwood Equity Partners LP, Enable Midstream Partners, LP, and SunCoke Energy Partners GP LLC.