Leadership
Rod West, President & CEO, Entergy New Orleans, Inc.
Rod West was named the president and chief executive officer of Entergy New
Orleans, Inc., a $750 million a year electric and gas utility, on Jan. 1, 2007.
West is responsible for ENOI’s financial and operational performance, customer
service, regulatory and governmental relations, economic development programs,
external and internal communications, charitable contributions, and
environmental policy. At the core of his operational responsibilities is
management of the company’s electric and gas distribution systems including
the purchase and generation of electricity and its transmission and
distribution to customers.
West is credited with managing the rebuild of critical aspects of the New
Orleans infrastructure after Hurricane Katrina, and for leading Entergy New
Orleans out of bankruptcy after the storm. In addition, he is overseeing the
industry’s largest natural gas rebuild effort in history - the replacement of
approximately 860 miles of underground pipe damaged after Hurricane Katrina.
West’s rise to the Entergy New Orleans CEO position began when he joined the
Entergy Corporation as senior regulatory counsel in April 1999 at the Fortune
500 Company’s headquarters. In that department, he led Entergy’s regulatory
transition team in obtaining the necessary government approvals for the
proposed merger with Florida Power and Light. By April 2001, West was named
director of the Entergy New Orleans regulatory affairs department where he
managed the 2000-2001 natural gas crisis that drove customer bills beyond
levels of affordability. During that crisis, West helped Entergy earn a
reputation as one of the most pro-customer utilities in the nation. He also
managed the company’s rate case that resulted in increased allowable earnings,
and its first profitable position in years - while actually lowering customer
bills thanks to power purchase contracts that brought cheaper power into the
city.
In December 2003, West became director of the company’s electric distribution
operations, managing hundreds of employees responsible for the daily
maintenance and operation of the electric grid. The role positioned him to
lead that team after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the city.
Before joining Entergy, West was a senior attorney in the New Orleans office
of Vial, Hamilton, Koch & Knox, L.L.P. commercial litigation department. He
also spent five years with the New Orleans-based firm of Jones, Walker,
Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, L.L.P. West is a member of the State
Bar of Louisiana.
He is recognized for an intense focus on charitable and community efforts
concentrating on education, healthcare, economic development and the
rebuilding of south Louisiana and New Orleans. West is an executive committee
member of the New Orleans Business Council, a member of the board of directors
of First Bank and Trust and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. In 2000, he was appointed
for a six-year term by former Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster to the Louisiana
State University System Board of Supervisors. He was reappointed by former
Gov. Kathleen Blanco and named board chairman through the 2006 and 2007
academic year.
West is a commissioner of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad and the Ernest
N. Morial Convention Center. He also served as an adjunct professor at Tulane
University from 1993 to 2001. And in May 2009, West was named a board member
of the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees.
West received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Notre Dame
where he lettered three years as outside linebacker and tight end for Lou
Holtz and the Fighting Irish’s 1988 National Championship football team. He
received his Juris Doctor from the Tulane University School of Law in 1993 and
his Masters of Business Administration degree from Tulane University in 2005.
He graduated from Brother Martin High School in New Orleans in 1986.
Updated July-09
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