Arkansas native Colette Honorable, the first Black chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission and a former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member, is taking over the top public policy position at the nation’s largest electric utility. 

Chicago-based Exelon on July 18 announced it has named Honorable as the company’s executive vice president of Public Policy and Chief External Affairs Officer, calling her one of the nation’s “renowned energy policy leaders.” A Fortune 250 firm with over 10 million utility customers in Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C Exelon owns six of the nation’s largest urban power companies. 

From Washington, D.C. Honorable she will lead the company’s efforts to engage external stakeholders as Exelon transitions to cleaner energy. After she assumes her new role on Sept. 5, Honorable executive oversight will include federal and regulatory affairs, strategy and sustainability, customer engagement, marketing, communications and corporate giving. Honorable will report to President and CEO Calvin Butler. Butler is the first African American to lead a top U.S. utility and only the seventh Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company. In 2019 he was named chief executive of the Chicago-based utility giant and was elected by the Exelon board of directors to take on the CEO and Chairman’s role in early 2023.

  “Colette is one of the top minds in the global energy industry, and an expert in several areas that will be critical to Exelon’s success, including the clean energy transformation, equitable rate making and environmental, social and corporate governance,” said Butler, who also serves on the Exelon board of directors. “We are delighted to have her join our team to help strengthen our efforts to power a cleaner and brighter future for our customers and communities across the mid-Atlantic and northern Illinois.” 

Honorable will join Exelon from global law firm Washington, D.C.- based Reed Smith LLP, where she has been a partner since 2017 and an executive committee member since 2021. As leader of the firm’s energy regulatory group, Honorable provided strategic counsel to Fortune 500 energy companies, investor-owned utilities, renewable energy, and technology companies in various areas, from mitigating the impacts of climate change to environmental justice and inclusion strategies. 

“I’m honored to join Exelon as it prioritizes the needs of its customers while balancing complex challenges. I’m excited to be a part of this incredible team,” said Honorable. 

Honorable is a graduate of the University of Memphis and received a Juris doctor degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law.