OCU Energy Speaker Series Continues; Prominent CEOs to Discuss Energy Transitions
OKLAHOMA
CITY – Two leading experts in the energy industry
will discuss energy transitions at the next Karl F. and June S. Martin Family
Foundation Energy Management Speaker Series lecture at Oklahoma City
University’s Meinders School of Business.
American Clean Skies Foundation CEO
Gregory Staple and American Electric Power President and CEO Nick Akins will speak
from 4 to 6 p.m. April 10 in the Kerr McGee Auditorium at the Meinders School
of Business, located at N.W. 27th Street and McKinley Ave. The event
is free to the public.
Staple was appointed CEO of the American
Clean Skies Foundation in December 2009. He succeeds the organization’s first
CEO, Denise Bode, now head of the American Wind Energy Association. Prior to
joining the foundation, Staple was a partner at the international law firm
Vinson & Elkins LLP where he specialized in federal regulatory matters and
co-directed the firm’s Washington D.C. climate change program. Staple has
written widely on cap-and-trade legislation to regulate greenhouse gas
emissions and related proposals. His essays on legal matters have appeared in
numerous publications, including The
Environmental Law Forum, Legal Times of Washington and The American Journal of International Law.
In addition to practicing law for more
than 25 years, Staple has been a consultant to the World Bank and is the
founder and former CEO of the TeleGeography publishing group. He received a
Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan and an undergraduate degree in
political economy from the University of Rochester.
Akins is the 10th president
and sixth chief executive officer of American Electric Power in the company’s
more than 100-year history. He is a member of AEP’s board of directors and is
the only management representative on the board.
Akins rose through the ranks at both AEP
and the former Central and South West Corporation, which merged with AEP in
2000. Akins began his nearly 30-year tenure in 1982 as an electrical engineer
before moving up to positions of increasing responsibility. Prior to being
elected president of AEP in December 2010, he served as executive vice
president of generation from 2006 through 2010 with responsibility for all
generation activities. Akins oversaw technological advances to address climate
change and a growing demand for electricity. These included the development of
the world’s first fully-integrated carbon capture and storage validation
project at AEP’s Mountaineer Plant in West Virginia, and construction of the
nation’s only ultra-supercritical pulverized coal plant in southwest Arkansas
to meet growing demand in that region. The John W. Turk Plant, which is nearly
complete, will be the most efficient coal plant in the country and the only use
of this technology in the United States.
Akins was president and chief operating
officer for Southwestern Electric Power Company, serving approximately 439,000
customers in Louisiana, Arkansas and northeast Texas. Named to the position in
2004, he had authority for distribution operations and a wide range of customer
and regulatory relationships.
Akins also served as vice president of
energy marketing services and vice president of industry restructuring. Before
CSW’s merger with AEP, Akins held various director and manager roles with
responsibility for mergers and acquisitions, industry restructuring, fuels,
system dispatch operations and system planning.
Akins received his bachelor’s degree in
electric engineering and master’s degree in electrical engineering from
Louisiana Tech University. Additional training includes executive management
programs at Louisiana State University, the University of Idaho and the Reactor
Technology Course for Utility Executives at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. He is a professional registered engineer in Texas.
Akins currently serves as vice chairman
of the board of the Electric Power Research Institute. He is a member of the
boards of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Mid-Ohio Food Bank,
the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Wexner Center for the Arts. He also
serves on several subsidiary boards of AEP. Akins and his wife, Donna, live in
Dublin, Ohio.
For more information or to register, call
Melissa Cory at (405) 208-5540, email mcory@okcu.edu or visit http://msb.okcu.edu/news-events/events/register.
