AEP Ohio gains new leadership team

A recent shakeup at the upper echelons of AEP Ohio produced a new leadership team for the American Electric Power company, all to support president and COO Marc Reitter.

“These changes to our leadership team demonstrate our ongoing commitment to serving our customers,” Reitter said. “In order to continue to evolve as a business and navigate the changing utility industry, forward-thinking leaders like Ryan, Lisa and Matt will be key to our success. This marks a new chapter at AEP Ohio and furthers our mission of providing reliable service to the communities we serve.”

Under the new structure, Reitter will be backed by Ryan Forbes as vice president of distribution operations, Lisa Kelso as vice president of customer experience and Matt McKenzie as vice president of regulatory and finance. Forbes and Kelso both replaced recent retirees. For Forbes, that was Tom Kratt, who retired in January, while Kelso replaced the more recently retired Jon Williams.

At the helm of distribution operations, Forbes will oversee construction, engineering, grid modernization, maintenance and operations on AEP Ohio’s electric distribution system, making him largely responsible for the service to its 1.5 million customers. Previously, he worked as director of distribution engineering, leading the engineering, design and technical sides of the company’s distribution system. He has been with AEP in some form since 2007.

Kelso joined the company not long after Forbes, in 2008. Although she now oversees customer service functions such as account management, community relations and customer program offerings, she previously worked as vice president of regulatory and finance, and director of regulatory services.

Lastly, as vice president of regulatory and finance McKenzie will now oversee AEP Ohio’s financial and regulatory strategic plans, from financial investments to tariffs. He’s well suited to the role, having worked in AEP’s legal department between 2014 and 2021, while backing AEP Ohio as a private attorney and a member of its regulatory team.