Dominion President And CEO Gary Sypolt Discusses Dealing With Challenges And Change

INGAA Foundation Chairman Gary Sypolt is the newly named chairman and CEO of Dominion Energy, one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,400 megawatts of generation, 1.2 Tcf equivalent of proved natural gas and oil reserves, 14,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,000 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage facility with 975 Bcf of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 12 states. Corporate headquarters are in Richmond, VA.

Dominion's strategy is to be a leading provider of electricity, natural gas and related services to customers in the energy-intensive Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the U.S., a potential market of 50 million homes and businesses where 40% of the nation's energy is consumed.

As the CEO of Dominion Energy, Sypolt cited a continued focus on core values, those being safety, ethics, excellence and teamwork as a first priority. “We believe that if we do all of those well, then success will follow. Laying out and communicating the roadmap for our Dominion Energy strategic efforts will also be a key focus for me,” he added.

P&GJ: Where did you grow up, what were your interests, and what led you to decide on a career n the energy industry?
Sypolt: The West Virginia town of Fairmont was my home. I enjoyed playing all sports, with football and track my main focuses. I also became very involved with Student Council my last two years of high school.

P&GJ: What was the career path that led to your current position?
Sypolt: First, my parents taught me great values and always offered support and encouragement. I owe much of my success to them.

While I was in college, I had the good fortune of working summers for CNG. During my senior year, I was fortunate that CNG asked me to work as an engineer in its Gas Measurement Department. From there, I was given opportunities in several engineering departments as well as in Field Operations. In 1989, I went to CNG’s corporate office in Pittsburgh to work in Systems Gas Operations. From there, I returned to Clarksburg, WV as vice president of Gas Supply, then vice president of Customer Services, and then vice president of Facility Optimization. As you can see, the CNG leadership team gave me many opportunities to learn the business and grow personally.

In 1999, Dominion approached CNG with a merger opportunity. While change can be somewhat stressful, this merger has been extremely successful and was great for employees as well as shareholders. At Dominion, I initially served as senior vice president of its gas transmission operations. In 2003, my role expanded to include electric transmission as well. That was a very exciting opportunity that gave me a chance to learn a new business as well. All of those steps led to my current opportunity as CEO of Dominion Energy.