CenterPoint Energy, Inc. announced that Board has unanimously appointed Jason P. Wells, CenterPoint Energy President and Chief Operating Officer, to become President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 5, 2024. David J. Lesar will retire from his role as CEO at that time. Mr. Lesar will continue to work closely with Mr. Wells to support a seamless transition.

Mr. Wells joined CenterPoint Energy in 2020, and over the last three years has held several executive leadership positions, including Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he was responsible for the company?s Finance organization and electric generation transition plan. Most recently, Mr. Wells served as President and Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for the company?s utilities operations, including electric, natural gas and power generation.

Mr. Wells is focused on safety, promoting excellence across operations and executing on the company?s industry-leading growth plan. Previously, Mr. Wells held positions of increasing responsibility with PG&E Corporation for 13 years. He served as EVP and CFO overseeing the financial activities of the nearly $60 billion enterprise.

In his roles as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Wells successfully led the execution of more than $50 billion in capital markets and strategic transactions. Mr. Wells serves on the boards of the Greater Houston Partnership, Central Houston, Inc., M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. He is also on the advisory board of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University.

In addition, he served on the board of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank in 2020 and was a board member and treasurer of Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco from 2013 to 2019. He holds bachelor?s and master?s degrees in accounting, both from the University of Florida, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).