Evergy’s gain is a loss for Oklahoma Gas and Electric.
Evergy,Inc., the Kansas City-based power company with 1.7 million customers in Kansas and Missouri announced the hiring of W. Bryan Buckler to become the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer effective Oct. 1 of this year.
It also means OG&E will be looking for a permanent replacement in the CFO position he gave up to move to Kansas City. As chief financial officer, Buckler will be responsible for Evergy’s corporate finance functions, including treasury, accounting, planning, tax, internal audit, capital allocation and investor relations.
The 51-year old Buckler had been CFO at OGE Energy Corp. since January 2021. Prior to joining OGE Energy Corp., Buckler was at Duke Energy Corporation for more than 14 years, where he served in various finance leadership roles, most recently as vice president, investor relations. He began his career at Ernst & Young LLP, where he worked for 11 years.
“We are very excited to have Bryan Buckler join our Evergy team,” commented David Campbell, Evergy’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Along with his strong track record as a chief financial officer, Bryan brings a wealth of experience through prior stints in accounting, treasury, financial planning and analysis, and investor relations functions in his career. I look forward to partnering with Bryan and I know he will be a great mentor and leader for our finance organization.”
Geoff Ley will continue to serve as Evergy’s acting chief financial officer until September 30, 2024, when he will transition the chief financial officer role and retain his role as treasurer and vice president of corporate planning.
OGE revealed Buckler’s departure in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and said only that Buckler had accepted a position with another company.
In the interim, the Board of Directors approved the appointment of Charles B. Walworth as the interim CFO. The appointment will be in addition to his current responsibilities as Treasurer of OGE Energy and OG&E. Walworth has been Treasurer since 2014.
The company stated it plans to evaluate internal and external candidates for a permanent CFO.
