Ben Fowke has been named chairman, president and CEO of Xcel Energy Inc. He succeeds Richard C. Kelly, who announced at the company's annual shareholder meeting in May that he would retire this month.
Fowke previously was president and chief operating officer. Kelly retires after 43 years with Xcel Energy and predecessor companies, serving as chairman and CEO for the last five years.
Before assuming his current responsibility, Fowke held a variety of executive positions at the company. Prior to the 2000 merger of Northern States Power Co. and New Century Energies (NCE) to form Xcel Energy, Fowke was a vice president in the NCE's retail business unit.
Earlier in his career, he worked for 10 years with FPL Group Inc., where he held various management positions.
