Victor A. Staffieri, chairman and CEO of LG&E and KU Energy, has announced his retirement from the state's largest utility effective March 8. Paul Thompson, who was named president and chief operating officer in January 2017, will succeed Staffieri.
Staffieri has been in LG&E and KU’s top role since 2001, and has been directly involved in the strategic transformation of the utilities. He previously served as president and chief operating officer, chief financial officer and general counsel.
Staffieri was also one of the principal negotiators in the mergers with KU in 1998 and with Powergen in 2000. Staffieri also guided the company through the largest construction program in its history. Over the past 17 years, LG&E and KU have tripled in size while investing more than $13 billion in infrastructure and other improvements.
Prior to joining LG&E, Staffieri was general counsel of Long Island Lighting Company, a Fortune 500 company in New York.
Staffieri’s long history of community involvement includes serving as chairman of the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the 2002 United Way Campaign, chairman of the Coordination Council for Economic Development Efforts, chairman of a state-wide task force on Postsecondary Education, and dinner chair for the National Conference, Junior Achievement and the Catholic Charities Foundation. He has also served on the boards of Fifth Third Bank in Louisville, Mid-America Bancorp, Edison Electric Institute, the Muhammad Ali Center, Leadership Louisville and Bellarmine University.
"Vic has provided exceptional leadership of LG&E and KU and been a valued member of PPL’s senior leadership team,” said William H. Spence, PPL chairman, president and CEO, in a statement announcing Staffieri's retirement. “We want to take this opportunity to thank him for his contributions and wish him the best. We also are fortunate to have Paul Thompson, an experienced leader in the utility industry and in Kentucky, ready to step into this role and continue the solid leadership that Vic has established.”