Entergy Corporation announced that Leo P. Denault, chairman and chief executive officer, will retire in 2023 following 23 years of service to the company and a 40-year career in the energy industry. As part of an orderly and planned leadership succession process, the Entergy board of directors elected Andrew "Drew" Marsh, executive vice president and chief financial officer, to succeed Denault as CEO, effective Nov. 1. Denault will continue to lead the board as executive chairman until his retirement.

Kimberly Fontan, 49, who has served as senior vice president and chief accounting officer since 2019, will succeed Marsh as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to her current role, she served as vice president, system planning; vice president, regulatory services; and vice president, regulatory affairs. Fontan joined Entergy in 1996 as a staff accountant.

She has held various roles of increasing scope and responsibility, including jurisdictional finance director for Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C., and controller, utility operations, in addition to the roles previously noted. In addition to her role at Entergy, she serves on the board of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Fontan has a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from The University of Southern Mississippi and an MBA from Loyola University New Orleans.

She is a certified public accountant and a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants. Members of Entergy's senior leadership team will be: · Rod West, group president, utility operations, will continue his current responsibilities overseeing Entergy's five utility businesses in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Orleans and Texas. He will continue to direct Entergy's engagement with state and local government regulators, economic development and the organization responsible for delivering quality customer experiences.

Kimberly Fontan, chief accounting officer, has been appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer, where she will be responsible for corporate finance, treasury, accounting, intern al audit, investor relations, and corporate development and planning. Marcus Brown, executive vice president and general counsel, will continue in his current role with responsibility for all legal, ethics and compliance, federal policy, regulatory and government affairs, communications, and corporate security and governance matters affecting Entergy Corporation and its subsidiaries. Chris Bakken, executive vice president and chief nuclear officer, has been appointed executive vice president of Entergy infrastructure, where he will have oversight responsibility for both the utility operations and the nuclear operations.

In this expanded role, Bakken will draw from his extensive leadership career in nuclear energy to oversee operational excellence, reliability, resilience and an improved quality of service from Entergy's diverse power generation portfolio. Peter Norgeot Jr., executive vice president and chief operating officer, continues in his role with responsibility for safety and human performance, power generation, power delivery, system planning, capital projects, system resilience, and compliance with federal standards for critical infrastructure protection. Norgeot will report to Bakken.

Kimberly Cook-Nelson, senior vice president, nuclear corporate services, has been named executive vice president of nuclear operations and chief nuclear officer, with responsibility for the safe and reliable operations of Entergy's four emissions-free nuclear plants located in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Cook-Nelson will report to Bakken. Julie Harbert, senior vice president, corporate business services, will continue in her current role with responsibility for information technology, supply chain, finance operations, human resource operations, real estate, facilities, aviation, and continuous improvement.

Kathryn Collins, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, will continue in her current role overseeing human resources strategy, including talent management, business partnerships, compensation, benefits, labor relations, organizational health, and diversity workforce strategies.