Former leader of Dominion Energy dies day after retiring

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Tom Farrell, who led Dominion Energy for more than a decade and was a powerful force in Virginia business and politics, died Friday, one day after stepping down from his post as the company's executive chairman. He was 66.

A news release from the utility said Farrell, who served as the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer from 2007 to 2020, had been battling cancer, which took a sudden turn in recent weeks.

“Tom was a peerless mentor and outstanding leader who sought to find innovative solutions to challenges at Dominion Energy, in the utility industry and in the community he called home,” said Robert M. Blue, who succeeded Farrell as board chairman. “In his tenure at the company, Tom oversaw an era of prosperity and growth, and a long-term transformation that will have a lasting impact on clean energy development and on the health of the environment.”

Farrell spent more than 15 years practicing law before joining Dominion Energy as general counsel in 1995. Over the next nine years, he served in several senior management positions at the company. Farrell was named president and chief operating officer in 2004, and president and chief executive officer in 2006. He was elected chairman in 2007, a post he held until Thursday.

The company said in its news release that Farrell helped lead the utility's acquisition of Consolidated Natural Gas in 2000. Farrell in recent years also focused on building solar and wind energy facilities and working toward emissions with a commitment to net zero emissions.

Dominion serves 7 million customers in 16 states and is a Fortune 500 company based in Richmond, Virginia.

In 2014, the company partnered with Duke Energy to launch the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, a 600-mile (965-kilometer) natural gas pipeline designed to cross West...