Dick Kelly — who began his career as a summer meter reader in Denver and became Xcel Energy’s chief executive officer — announced Wednesday he would retire in August.
Kelly, 64, will be succeeded by Benjamin G.S. Fowke III, Xcel’s president and chief operating officer, the company said in a statement.
A Denver native, Kelly got a summer job as a meter reader for Public Service Company of Colorado to help pay his tuition at Regis University.
Kelly parlayed his summertime job into full-time service with PSCo, first in the auditing department taking inventory of light bulbs. He gradually worked his way up the corporate hierarchy.
In 2002, Kelly became chief executive of Xcel Energy — which was the merger of several utility companies and is based in Minneapolis.
Kelly took over after the utility’s stock hit a 21-year-low of $5.66, after the bankruptcy of the company’s wholesale energy business. Xcel shares closed Tuesday at a nine-year high of $25.23 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Kelly also pursued an environmental and renewable energy agenda that made Xcel the largest wind powered investor-owner utility.
“Dick has done an extraordinary job managing the company’s operations while developing an environmental platform that has established Xcel Energy as a true leader in the industry,” Fredric W. Corrigan, lead director on the Xcel’s board, said in a statement.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or MJaffe@denverpost.com
