Detroit, March 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DETROIT, March 10, 2022 — DTE Energy Executive Chairman Gerry Anderson will retire on June 30 after a 29-year career with the company. Current DTE President and CEO Jerry Norcia will assume the additional role of chairman of the board effective upon the expiration of Anderson’s current term on May 5, 2022.
“My wife Lizann encouraged me to take an interview with DTE nearly 30 years ago,” said Anderson. “I’m so glad she did – I’ve been blessed with 29 wonderful years at a great company full of so many wonderful people.
“Jerry Norcia and I have worked closely together for nearly 20 of those years,” continued Anderson. “He is a strong leader, and I am proud that the company is in his hands.”
Ruth Shaw, lead independent director of the board, said, “We are unanimously confident in Jerry Norcia's leadership and vision. I thank Gerry for leading the board through a decade of rapid and sustainable progress, and I congratulate Jerry on his new role."
Norcia, who was named CEO in 2019, said DTE aspires to be the best company in the world and the best company for the world. “Gerry transformed our company’s culture, drove a highly successful growth agenda, and put us on a path to net zero carbon emissions that also supports reliable and affordable energy for customers,” said Norcia. “He readied DTE for long-term success, and I look forward to continuing to accelerate our progress.
“This is an extraordinary and exciting time in our company and our industry,” Norcia continued. “We are reinventing the way we produce and deliver energy to our customers. We are building an electric grid that will overcome the challenges of climate change and enable demand growth while delivering an affordable product. We will continue to improve people’s lives with our energy and be a positive force on economic development and prosperity for all Michiganders.”
Anderson joined DTE in 1993 from McKinsey & Co. and held executive leadership roles throughout the enterprise before being named president in 2004, CEO in 2010, and chairman in 2011.
“I learned that my first and most important job as a CEO was to foster a culture that made our people proud, that was deserving of our people’s very best energy. If we could do that, everything else followed,” said Anderson. “I fully credit the energy and commitment of our employees for our success at DTE.”
During his time as CEO, Anderson focused on and led the clean energy transformation of DTE’s power generation, pursuing increasingly large-scale investments in renewable energy. He committed the company to directly address the climate crisis by retiring coal-fired generation over time, investing heavily in wind and solar, and driving for net zero carbon emissions – becoming one of the first industry CEOs to set this goal.
Anderson also brought a focus on clean energy to the Edison Electric Institute, the association that gathers the leadership of U.S. electric companies, which Anderson currently chairs. In that role, he has encouraged the industry to accelerate the nation’s shift to clean energy production and to fundamentally address climate change.
Anderson has been deeply involved in spurring community vitality and economic growth in Michigan. He founded Detroit’s Regional CEO Group – a gathering of some of Detroit’s most influential business leaders – and he chairs the group’s work on causes like education and youth employment. He also pushed for the creation of and chairs the Detroit Regional Partnership, which continues to be the region’s leading economic development organization.
When COVID struck in 2020, Anderson chaired the Michigan Economic Recovery Council, a state-wide group of business leaders, healthcare experts and university presidents that advised Gov. Whitmer during the critical months of the crisis. Anderson was also the chairman of Business Leaders for Michigan during 2020-2021.
After he leaves DTE, Anderson plans to continue working to accelerate progress toward a clean energy future by developing practical solutions to sustainably reduce carbon emissions.
“Climate change continues to be among the most important public policy issues of our time, and I intend to keep working to address it,” Anderson said.
About DTE Energy
DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric company serving 2.3 million customers in Southeast Michigan and a natural gas company serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan. The DTE portfolio also includes non-utility businesses focused on industrial energy services, renewable natural gas, and energy marketing and trading. As an environmental leader, DTE utility operations will reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions by more than 80% by 2040 to produce cleaner energy while keeping it safe, reliable and affordable. DTE Electric and Gas aspire to achieve net zero carbon and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. DTE is committed to serving with its energy through volunteerism, education and employment initiatives, philanthropy and economic progress. Information about DTE is available at dteenergy.com, empoweringmichigan.com, twitter.com/dte_energy and facebook.com/dteenergy.
