Exelon announced that it has named renowned energy policy leader Colette D. Honorable as the company’s executive vice president of Public Policy and Chief External Affairs Officer. Honorable will helm the company’s efforts to engage external stakeholders as it works to lead the energy transformation, with areas of oversight including federal and regulatory affairs, strategy and sustainability, customer engagement, marketing, communications, and corporate giving. Honorable assumes this role on Sept. 5, reporting to President and Chief Executive Officer Calvin Butler and joining Exelon’s Executive Committee. She will be based at the company’s District of Columbia offices.
“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. “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 Reed Smith LLP, where she has been a partner since 2017 and a member of the executive committee since 2021. As leader of the firm’s energy regulatory group, Honorable has been providing strategic counsel to Fortune 500 energy companies, investor-owned utilities, renewable energy, and technology companies on a range of areas, from mitigating the impacts of climate change to environmental justice and inclusion strategies.
Honorable served as a FERC Commissioner from January 2015 through June 2017, a role for which she was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Her areas of focus included cyber and physical security, wholesale markets, transmission planning, gas and electric coordination, renewables and storage integration, ratemaking and infrastructure development. Prior to joining FERC, she spent several years on the Arkansas Public Service Commission (PSC), including serving as chairman from 2011-2015. She also held roles of increasing seniority with the Arkansas Attorney General’s office, ultimately serving as chief of staff overseeing communications, legislative, policy and public affairs.
“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 past president and chairman of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). She has served in an informal, advisory capacity to the executive and legislative branches of the United States government, and on a global level to several nations as a courtesy to the State Department and at the request of foreign governments.
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.
