Longtime local utility executive Hamrock to retire from NiSource

Longtime local utility executive Joe Hamrock is stepping down as president and CEO of the parent company of Columbia Gas of Ohio.

Hamrock is leaving after a decade as the top executive of Indiana-based NiSource, which services about 3.2 million natural gas customers and 500,000 electric customers across six states.

Hamrock, 59, had been at American Electric Power since 1986 and had served as president and chief operating officer of AEP Ohio since 2007 before going to NiSource in 2012 as an executive vice president supervising regulated utilities. He became president and CEO in 2015.

NiSource has picked Lloyd Yates to replace Hamrock on Feb. 14. He most recently served as a top executive for Duke Energy.

Hamrock will stay on short time in a non-executive role, after which time he will retire to pursue various personal and philanthropic interests, according to the company. He also will retire from the board on Feb. 14.

"I am incredibly proud to have had the opportunity to serve NiSource over the past decade and believe that the company is well positioned to continue building on its current momentum and deliver growth and value creation for years to come," Hamrock said in a statement.

The company credited Hamrock with driving shareholder returns during his tenure.

Hamrock also was CEO in 2019 when a natural gas explosion in the Lawrence, Massachusetts, area killed one person, injured several others and damaged thousands of homes and businesses, and did more than $1 billion in damage and expenses.

The explosion occurred after too much gas was pumped into a section of pipe owned by former NiSource subsidiary Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, according to federal regulators. That caused the combustible fuel to leak into homes. The explosion occurred in an area where old gas lines were being replaced.

The spike in pressure registered in NiSource's Columbus command center in the Arena District.

The company instituted a number of safety measures after the explosion designed to prevent another natural gas explosion and sold Columbia Gas of Massachusetts.

mawilliams@dispatch.com

@BizMarkWilliams

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: NiSource names Lloyd Yates next CEO as Joe Hamrock retires