JEA CEO search narrows down to three final candidates

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The JEA Board of Directors will be interviewing three candidates for the JEA CEO position next week.

After receiving a total 26 applicants, the search committee narrowed that down to six semi-finalists. Now, after a week of interviews, that pool has narrowed down to three candidates.

John Hairston: The Chief Operating Officer at Bonneville Power Administration in Portland, Oregon. According to his resume, Hairston has been with the Bonneville Power Administration since 1990, starting as a economist and marketer. He moved his way up and became COO in October 2019. However, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette announced that Hairston has taken over as interim Administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration back in August.

Morgan O’Brien: The President and CEO of Peoples Gas in Pittsburgh. According to his resume, he served as President and CEO from February 2010 to March 2020. He left Peoples Natural Gas after Aqua America Inc. acquired it. In his resume’s survey, he says that he is an “experienced chief executive with demonstrated achievement in development and execution of creative enterprise strategies that delivered measurable growth in business value, corporate reputation and people.”

Jay Stowe: The CEO and founder of Stowe Utility Group LLC in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He previously served as the former Senior Vice President of Resources and Operations Support for the Tennessee Valley Authority from October 2016 to October 2019.

The interview will take place at the Jacksonville Public Library downtown on October 27. Only 70 people will be allowed to attend.

Contract negotiations will be done on October 30 and the new CEO will be named then. The current interim CEO, Paul McElroy, will have to leave his position in November as he cannot work for JEA for more than six months.

Cox Media Group