November 21, 2023

Today the company named two new senior executives: Wade Smith as president, FirstEnergy Utilities, and Toby Thomas as chief operating officer of FirstEnergy, effective December 18 and November 30, respectively. The addition of these two experienced leaders is an important step in driving forward our transformation into a premier electric utility. Both leaders will report directly to Brian Tierney, president and chief executive officer.

Today’s executive appointments support a new business structure that shifts decision-making and accountability closer to customers. As president, FirstEnergy Utilities, Wade will oversee our state businesses – Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the combined West Virginia/Maryland segment – as well as have responsibility for the financial performance of our stand-alone transmission companies. The leaders of these five businesses will report to Wade and will be responsible for financial and operational performance as well as regulatory outcomes in their respective areas. Wade will also have responsibility for the Rates & Regulatory Affairs and External Affairs groups.

As Chief Operating Officer, Toby will be responsible for a broad range of transmission and distribution business functions such as planning and protection, transmission and substation engineering, project and construction management, system operations, support operations and safety and human performance. In addition, the Customer Experience group will report to Toby.

Wade most recently served as chief operating officer of Puget Sound Energy and has more than three decades of experience leading utilities. Toby joins FirstEnergy after more than two decades at American Electric Power (AEP), where he most recently served as senior vice president – AEP Energy Delivery.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Toby and Wade to our organization, bringing their fresh perspectives and deep utilities experience to help FirstEnergy effectively execute our strategy and advance the continuous improvement culture we’re pursuing,” said Brian. “Our extensive search for these pivotal roles attracted deeply experienced candidates, and we have selected executives who have demonstrated successful leadership that is directly aligned with our ongoing transformation and vision for the future. Toby and Wade’s focused and accountable leadership will be critical to driving decision-making closer to where the work happens and achieving the outstanding results that define our success.”

The company is interviewing both internal and external candidates to fill the FEU leadership positions along with a new SVP, Corporate Shared Services, who will be responsible for certain corporate support functions, such as Supply Chain, IT and Flight Operations. We will share more information as individuals are appointed to these positions and they organize their teams, which we expect will occur over the next several weeks and extend into 2024.

Mark Mroczynski, acting vice president, Operations, will play a key role onboarding these new senior executives, and will continue to oversee his current areas of responsibility until Wade comes onboard and the new SVP, Corporate Shared Services, is named.

“We greatly appreciate the tremendous job Mark has done overseeing the FirstEnergy Utilities organization on an interim basis since last May,” said Brian. “He will continue to play an important role in the future as part of our ongoing transformation.”

Wade Smith’s Background

Wade began his nearly 32-year career at AEP at its predecessor West Texas Utilities Company, where he served as an engineer and plant manager. He held increasingly responsible leadership roles within generation, transmission engineering and project management at AEP subsidiaries before being named president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas in 2010, where he led a team serving more than a million customers in a diverse service territory across parts of south, central and west Texas. In 2015, Wade was named senior vice president, Grid Development for AEP Transmission and was responsible for planning, engineering, project and construction management, and real-time operations.

In 2021, Smith joined Pacific Gas & Electric as senior vice president of Electric Operations, leading electric transmission and distribution system operations and maintenance, generation, and project management and construction teams for the company’s electric operations. He was named chief operating officer of Puget Sound Energy in 2022, where he is responsible for all of PSE’s operational areas, including natural gas and electric operations, safety and health, and energy supply, serving approximately 1.2 million electric customers and 900,000 natural gas customers.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University, and a Master of Business Administration from Abilene Christian University. He also completed the Executive Program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Wade currently serves on the Texas Tech University Whitacre College of Engineering Dean’s Council.

Toby Thomas’ Background

Toby began his career with Cummins Engine Company in Columbus, Indiana, serving in engineering and technical specialist roles. He joined AEP in 2001 as a project engineer in Industrial Marketing and Origination, progressing through various roles of increasing responsibility in asset optimization and generation. He was named president and chief operating officer of Indiana Michigan Power in 2017 to oversee business performance, operations and a wide range of customer, policy and regulatory relationships. Toby was promoted to his most recent role of senior vice president, Energy Delivery, in 2021, where he helped achieve efficiencies in transmission, distribution and telecommunications operations, project management, construction, engineering and standards.

Toby earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.