Fortune magazine’s newest list of the Most Powerful Women in Business includes only one true energy CEO.
She is Lynn Good, head of Duke Energy. The 61-year old Good was ranked 19th on the 2019 list of Fortune’s 50 most powerful women in business and this year was picked to be the 23rd most powerful business woman.
Under her reign as President and CEO at Duke Energy, revenue inched up 2.2% to $24.7 billion in 2019 at Duke as the energy company added 1,500 megawatts of wind and solar projects—part of Good’s pledge that the company will meet a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
But over the past several months, business closures owing to the pandemic have reduced demand for electricity. Duke reportedly rebuffed a recent takeover bid by NextEra Energy, but buzz about a possible deal continues. Such a merger—uniting the largest and the third-largest power utilities in the country—would encounter significant regulatory hurdles, but analysts say it’s unlikely Good would be leading any combined entity.
Two women in energy-related fields made the list. One was Kathryn Farmer, Executive Vice President of Operations at Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway where she will soon be the company’s new leader. She ranked 42nd on this year’s list.
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TITLEEVP, Operations
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AFFILIATIONBNSF
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AGE50
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2019 RANK–
In January, Farmer will become CEO of BNSF, making her the first woman to run a major U.S. railroad. BNSF is a $23.5 billion company within Berkshire Hathaway—making Farmer an influential voice among Warren Buffett’s businesses. The 400-line railroad serves as a critical connector for the North American economy and accounts for 9% of Berkshire’s total revenue and 23% of its profit.
A third woman to make the list in an energy-related field is Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Office at SpaceX.
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President and COO
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AFFILIATIONSpaceX
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AGE56
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2019 RANK–
While Elon Musk garners most of the headlines, Shotwell is the one running day-to-day operations at the space exploration company—now valued at $46 billion. And she’s on a winning streak: securing satellite contracts from the DOD, beating SpaceX’s own records for reusing its rockets, and—with the May launch of the Crew Dragon—sending astronauts into space from U.S. soil for the first time in nearly a decade.
Since 1998, Fortune has ranked the Most Powerful Women in Business using four criteria: the size and importance of each woman’s business in the global economy; the health and direction of the business; the arc of her career; and her social and cultural influence. In 2020, we added a new dimension—how the executive is wielding her power. In this moment of crisis and uncertainty, we asked: Is she using her influence to shape her company and the wider world for the better?
Click here for Fortune magazine’s complete story on the list.
Source: Fortune
