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Austin Energy CEO Retiring After Outages

Austin energy
Austin Energy car | Image by Michael Minasi / KUT

Austin Energy announced on March 31 that Jackie Sargent, the company’s CEO, had retired from the electric utility industry, effective immediately.

Sargent was the first female general manager of Austin Energy, a role she served in for nearly six years. Sargent supervised a number of projects during her time, including creating resource plans, negotiating power purchase and sales agreements, assisting with mergers and acquisitions, incorporating renewable resources, and many more, per Austin Energy.

In 2022, Sargent was awarded the Energy Thought Summit Thought Leader of the Year Award, per Austin Energy. She also received the Distinguished Leadership Award from RMEL, a non-profit energy trade association, in 2017 and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Distinguished Alumni Award.

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza praised Sargent’s career and achievements in a statement, saying that “Jackie’s trailblazing career spans four decades and she is nationally recognized as a visionary leader in the electric utility industry. Her focus on safety, renewable energy, operational effectiveness, and the customer experience set Austin Energy on a positive path forward and I am extremely grateful for her service to our community,” per The Texan.

“I wish her all the best in her retirement and am sure she will continue to make valuable contributions to this career field where she has left such an indelible mark,” the statement continued. 

While the cause of Sargent’s sudden retirement is unknown, she faced criticism for the extended power outages that occurred in February when central Texas was hit by a severe ice storm, resulting in almost half a million Texas residents losing power. Nearly 30% of the city of Austin was affected, with some areas experiencing power outages for days, per The Texan.

Sargent referred to the situation as “one step forward, two steps back,” per The Texan. The power outage sparked a conversation about burying power lines since repairs were made more difficult by downed power lines and broken tree branches. Sargent argued that it would cost billions of dollars to bury the lines.

Sargent’s deputy, Stuart Reilly, will serve as the interim general manager of Austin Energy. Reilly has been an employee of Austin Energy for 14 years, previously serving as an attorney, per My San Antonio. 

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