By William Opalka
Eversource Energy CEO Tom May will retire in a month and be replaced by current CFO Jim Judge, the company announced Wednesday.
May, 68, will become board chairman after the company’s annual shareholders meeting May 4 in Boston. Under the succession plan, Judge will join the board next month and become chairman at Eversource’s annual meeting in 2017.
May and Judge have worked together for 38 years. For the past 22 years, before and during a series of mergers, May has been CEO of Boston Edison, NSTAR and Northeast Utilities, which was renamed Eversource Energy in 2015. (See Northeast Utilities Rebranding as Eversource Energy.)
NSTAR and Northeast Utilities merged in 2012 to create an electric and gas utility company in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire with 3.6 million customers and a market capitalization of $18 billion. The company has joint headquarters in Boston and Hartford.
“Tom May has been an extraordinary leader for more than two decades as chief executive. He has delivered superior results in every category — customer, financial, operations, safety and community,” Sanford Cloud, lead trustee of the board, said in a statement.
Judge will remain in his role as Eversource CFO until a successor is named.
Besides pursuing growth and acquisitions, May has become known for forging partnerships with developers to propose controversial projects that would bring fuel resources into New England.
In 2008, NSTAR and Northeast Utilities formed a joint venture, Northern Pass Transmission, to import Canadian hydropower supplied by Hydro-Quebec through New Hampshire. That project, vehemently opposed by some environmentalists and natural gas generators, is currently undergoing site evaluation by state officials. (See Committee Rules Northern Pass Application Complete.)
Eversource also has a 40% stake in the proposed $3 billion Access Northeast natural gas pipeline with partners Spectra Energy and National Grid. The pipeline would run through New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. (See Algonquin Submits Pre-Filing Request for Access Northeast Pipeline.)
Pipeline plans have generated controversy as some state regulators have endorsed a regional plan to have funding come from electricity customers. (See Massachusetts Regulators Endorse Pipeline Contracts.)