With more than 25 years of industry experience, former Huntsville Utilities CEO Jay Stowe is now taking the reins of Florida utility company JEA.
Stowe left Huntsville Utilities in 2016 to join the Tennessee Valley Authority as the senior vice president of Distributed Energy Resources. TVA Executive Vice President for External Relations Van Wardlaw stated at the time, “Distributed energy resources are a growing part of our energy portfolio, and we want to be positioned to proactively manage these to optimize the value for consumers in the Valley. Jay’s perspective as a local power company CEO will help us greatly as we partner more closely with our local power companies to best serve the Valley.”
Stowe’s experience and belief that publicly shared utility companies is the right path led JEA to hire him, hoping for restoration.
According to Al.com, Stowe stated, “I believe — and I will say this over and over again — I believe strongly in this public model for the community that we serve. If I didn’t think we were done with the privatization kind of ideas, I wouldn’t be here, and I believe so strongly in it [the public model]that I want to be part of rebuilding that so everyone else can believe in that, too.”
Stowe worked for Huntsville Utilities in Alabama, where he worked nearly 11 years and rose to CEO. Before that, he worked in North Carolina and worked three years as a senior vice president for the Tennessee Valley Authority. He founded Stowe Utility Group in 2019 in Chattanooga.
Hiring Stowe was a month’s long process starting back in July.
“We were faced with choosing between three excellent candidates,” JEA Board Chairman John Baker stated. “And though it was a difficult choice, we feel confident that under Jay’s leadership, JEA will remain a leader in the Jacksonville community and the utility industry at large. Jay is energized, has extensive knowledge and experience, and we stand behind him. We are looking forward to a bright future for JEA.”
Stowe is replacing Paul McElroy, who retired as JEA CEO in 2018. According to a Jacksonville.com report, McElroy returned to JEA this year to serve as interim after Aaron Zahn was fired after a controversial attempt to sell the public utility group.
