Swepco Names Brett Mattison as President, Succeeding Smoak in 2023

Southwestern Electric Power Co. of Shreveport announced Friday morning that Kentucky Power President and Chief Operating Officer Brett Mattison will be its president and COO starting Jan. 1.

Mattison will succeed Malcolm Smoak, who is retiring at year’s end after 38 years at American Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio, the parent company to both Swepco and Kentucky Power.

Peggy Simmons, AEP’s executive vice president, utilities, honored Smoke for his career-long dedication to the company and its customers. “His retirement is well deserved, and we wish him all the best when he begins that new chapter in January,” she said in a news release.

Mattison, who will report to Simmons, will oversee all aspects of SWEPCO’s service, from customer response to distribution operations, safety, communications, external affairs and regulatory functions. Most recently, he served as president and COO of AEP’s Kentucky Power subsidiary. Mattison started his career with Swepco in 1990.

“Brett will be a familiar face,” Simmons said in the release. “He has cultivated relationships that will allow him to hit the ground running. His customer-centered approach has been a hallmark of his leadership. SWEPCO customers can expect that he will carry on that same commitment when he returns.”

Before joining Kentucky Power, Mattison was the director of Customer Services and Marketing for SWEPCO from 2004 to 2019. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in business finance from Louisiana Tech University and a commercial banking degree from the American Institute of Banking.

Under Smoak’s tenure, SWEPCO, along with sister company Public Service Company of Oklahoma, completed construction of the 1,484-megawatt North Central Energy Facilities, three wind farms that produce nearly 6 million megawatt-hours of clean energy each year. Power produced at NCEF provides benefits to SWEPCO customers in Arkansas and Louisiana in addition to PSO customers.

On Thursday, Swepco announced plans for more renewable energy projects, including a request for proposals for wind resources up to 1,900 megawatts and solar resources up to 500 megawatts. Proposals for renewable developers are due by Nov. 17. Wind now makes up 21% of Swepco’s energy generation mix, and the NCEF’s largest and final wind generator came online in March.

Earlier this year, Swepco announced plans to add 1,071 megawatts of wind and solar power through owned assets and purchased power deals. Those megawatts are scheduled to be online by 2025.