FirstEnergy Corp. announced that the board of directors has unanimously agreed to appoint Brian X. Tierney as chief executive officer, effective June 1, 2023. He succeeds interim President and Chief Executive Officer John W. Somerhalder II.

Mr. Somerhalder also serves as chair of FirstEnergy's board, a position he will continue to hold. After FirstEnergy's May 2023 annual meeting, Mr. Tierney is expected to be appointed by the board to serve as a director effective June 1. Mr. Tierney, 55, joins FirstEnergy from Blackstone, where he serves as the global head of Portfolio Operations and Asset Management for the Infrastructure group. He previously spent 23 years at Ohio-based American Electric Power Company Inc. (AEP), where he held a number of leadership positions, including most recently serving as executive vice president of Strategy following more than 11 years as its chief financial officer.

With a career spanning 28 years in the industry, Mr. Tierney has developed extensive leadership, operational and commercial experience. Moreover, he brings to FirstEnergy strong financial acumen – across capital allocation, accounting, investor relations, planning and strategy, and risk management – and a demonstrated ability to advance business strategies and drive value creation. Previously, he served as executive vice president of AEP Utilities East, responsible for the distribution, customer service and financial performance of AEP's utility operating companies and subsidiaries across Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

He was also senior vice president of Commercial Operations, where he led AEP's energy trading and marketing activities, market operations and dispatch of the company's 38,000 MW generation fleet. Brian served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in the Republic of the Philippines and earned his bachelor's degree from Boston College and an MBA from the University of Chicago.