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Progress recruits insider as chief

Senior vice president Jeff Lyash, who will succeed president and CEO Bill Habermeyer, brings experience on nuclear energy.

By LOUIS HAU
Published March 22, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Progress Energy executive Jeff Lyash was named on Tuesday to succeed Bill Habermeyer as the power company's top official in the state, setting the stage for a younger and relatively unknown player to step into the senior ranks of the Tampa Bay area and Florida economic development leadership.

The 44-year-old Shamokin, Pa., native brings a wealth of experience to his job as Progress Energy Florida president and chief executive on the power-generation and energy-delivery sides of the business, particularly in nuclear power. And he has more nuts-and-bolts experience working around power plants than Habermeyer, who is retiring at the end of May.

But on one key point, the two are similar. Lyash said he plans to follow Habermeyer's example and maintain Progress' status as a major player in regional economic development initiatives.

Lyash assumes the reins of Progress Energy Florida at a time of strong customer growth and high fuel costs, amid a search for a new nuclear power plant site, and during a renewed debate in Tallahassee about how to best protect the state's electric infrastructure from the ravages of hurricanes.

"Florida faces continued significant growth and I don't anticipate that is going to slow," Lyash said. "Along with that comes the need to provide high-quality, reliable, cost-effective energy to fuel that economy. The challenge for Progress Energy is accomplishing that in a way that benefits customers, employees and shareholders."

Lyash summed up his management philosophy as one focused on "making your work force proud of what they do, but never satisfied with their current level of performance."

He and his wife, Tracy, live in Seminole and have two college-age children, Nate, 22, and Rachel 20. Both attend Appalachian State University. In his free time, Lyash likes to restore cars. His latest project is a tangerine-colored 1969 Chevrolet Corvette. "It's one of my distractions," he said.

Lyash's appointment to succeed Habermeyer, 63, is part of a generational shift under way in the corporate leadership of Progress Energy Florida and its corporate parent, Progress Energy Inc. of Raleigh, N.C.

On Tuesday, the parent company said it appointed fossil generation vice president Paula Sims, 44, as senior vice president of diversified operations, replacing the retiring Don Davis, 60.

Meanwhile, Wall Street observers expect Progress Energy Inc. chairman and chief executive Bob McGehee, 62, to retire within the next few years to make way for heir-apparent Bill Johnson, the company's 51-year-old president and chief operating officer.

Although nearly two decades his predecessor's junior, Lyash shares one key attribute with Habermeyer: extensive experience in nuclear energy.

Habermeyer is a retired rear admiral in the Navy, where he served in the nuclear submarine program.

After joining Progress, he initially worked as an executive in the Carolinas' nuclear operations.

Lyash's first job after college was at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he worked for nine years as a project manager and senior resident inspector in Washington and at various nuclear power plants in the Northeast.

Lyash joined Progress in 1993, spending his first eight years at the company working at the Brunswick nuclear power plant near Southport, N.C., eventually rising to site operations director.

In 2002, Lyash was named vice president of transmission for Progress Energy Carolinas and moved to the Tampa Bay area the next year to become Progress Energy Florida's senior vice president of energy delivery.

Lyash's experience in nuclear power will come in handy as Progress decides whether to build a new nuclear plant in Florida. The company expects to name a potential site for a Florida plant by the end of June.

The recent volatility of prices for coal, oil and natural gas has underlined the importance for utilities to maintain a diverse fuel mix, which has helped enhance the appeal of nuclear power, Lyash said.

Whether that means the United States will see a significant expansion of nuclear power isn't certain, he said. But he noted that greater support for nuclear power appears to be emerging among policymakers and the public, adding that, "How much traction that gains only time will tell."

Lyash said he welcomes the debate about how to best prepare the state's electric utilities to withstand the effect of future hurricanes. But he added that he thinks Progress' infrastructure is in good shape.

Habermeyer maintained a high profile in local business circles as a past vice chairman of Enterprise Florida and as a member of the boards of the Tampa Bay Partnership, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Suncoast Boys and Girls Clubs, the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg and other institutions.

Lyash said he is carving out a role for himself in economic development efforts and vowed that he and the company will remain engaged.

"The company here is in the business of being a regional energy provider, integrated with the community and supporting economic development," he said. "I expect to be involved in all those things.

"We're one of the largest companies in the area. Both the company and I have the responsibility to be involved and to make our involvement substantial."

Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Louis Hau can be reached at 813 226-3404 or hau@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 22, 2006, 01:59:21]