internal
Jason P. Wells
Chair of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer
Executive
2 yr
5 reports
Leadership change Jason P. Wells was promoted to President & CEO (from President & COO) · DEF 14A filed Mar 2025
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. ·CNP
COO role added in 2025 to execute ten-year capital plan
Energy · Fortune #450 · Hybrid structure · 9K employees · Houston, Texas
View as of:
4
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 10)
2.2
Avg span
tight
3
Max depth
3 levels
3 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
75%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$9.3B
Operating income
$2.1B
Net income
$1.1B
Total assets
$46.5B
Shares out
653M
Sourced from CenterPoint Energy, Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2026-03-04 ↗ View on SEC
Interactive org chart
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. organizational chart
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COO role added in 2025 to execute ten-year capital plan. This page maps CenterPoint Energy’s enterprise-led utility structure, detailing the CEO’s direct reports, key operational and financial leaders, recent leadership changes, and how the organization compares with regulated-utility peers.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Kristie L. Colvin departed as Senior Vice President & Chief Accounting Officer
Retired from CAO role effective March 2, 2026; full retirement June 1, 2026.
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add Chief AI & Analytics Officer Introduce a centralized AI and analytics leader to support grid optimization, outage response, and regulatory analytics.
- COO Departure: Reabsorb Operations Remove the COO role and return direct operational oversight to the CEO during a leadership transition.
Atlas work this supports
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The people
Who's running this
5 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
Jesus Soto, Jr.
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Operations
1 yr
0 reports
internal
Christopher A. Foster
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Finance
3 yr
1 reports
internal
Monica Karuturi
Executive Vice President & General Counsel
Legal
4 yr
0 reports
internal
Jason M. Ryan
Executive Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs
Regulatory
5 yr
0 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 2 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Jason P. Wells $12.1M
- Base salary
- $1.23M
- Stock awards
- $7.63M
- Non-equity incentive
- $2.58M
- Other
- $657K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Christopher A. Foster $4.1M
- Base salary
- $752K
- Stock awards
- $2.20M
- Non-equity incentive
- $967K
- Other
- $157K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The businesses
How CenterPoint Energy, Inc. divides the work
4 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Electric Utility Operations
4K employees
EVP & COO (Jesus Soto, Jr.)
Manages electric transmission, distribution, and grid resiliency across regulated territories.
Natural Gas Distribution
3K employees
EVP & COO (Jesus Soto, Jr.)
Oversees regulated natural gas distribution systems and infrastructure modernization.
Finance
500 employees
EVP & CFO (Christopher A. Foster)
Responsible for financial reporting, capital structure, and investor relations.
Legal & Regulatory Affairs
300 employees
EVP & General Counsel (Monica Karuturi)
Leads legal, compliance, and regulatory strategy across jurisdictions.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
The most distinctive feature of CenterPoint Energy’s structure is the late addition of a formal Chief Operating Officer role in 2025 to drive execution of its unusually large ten-year regulated capital plan.
Prior to this, operational accountability sat more directly with the CEO, reflecting a leaner executive layer.
The current structure is a hybrid enterprise model typical of large regulated utilities: strong functional C-suite leaders (Finance, Legal, Regulatory) combined with a centralized operations leader overseeing electric and gas utilities. The COO now aggregates grid resiliency, safety, and capital execution functions that previously spanned multiple roles.
This design aligns with CenterPoint’s heavy regulatory exposure and capital intensity, prioritizing disciplined execution and regulatory coordination over divisional autonomy. Compared with peers, the CEO span remains moderate, but operational depth increased with the COO appointment.
- COO role created in 2025
- CEO also serves as Board Chair
- Strong regulatory and legal emphasis
The comparison
How CenterPoint Energy, Inc. stacks up
Compared with other U.S. investor-owned utilities, CenterPoint Energy’s structure is more centralized and enterprise-led. Peers such as Duke Energy and Southern Company maintain multiple utility presidents with semi-autonomous P&L responsibility, while CenterPoint concentrates execution authority at the corporate …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
3 levels
5 levels
6 levels
5 levels
5 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
3 yr
4 yr
6 yr
5 yr
Has COO / Has CAIO
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. ✓ COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
The most significant change was the creation of a COO role in 2025, strengthening operational execution for CenterPoint’s capital-intensive strategy.
- departedKristie L. Colvin Senior Vice President & Chief Accounting Officer
Retired from CAO role effective March 2, 2026; full retirement June 1, 2026.
Source - newRussell K. Wright Vice President & Chief Accounting Officer
Appointed effective March 2, 2026 following retirement of Kristie Colvin.
Source - newJesus Soto, Jr. Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Appointed COO effective August 11, 2025 to support execution of the ten-year capital plan.
Source
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-03-04
- CEO
- Jason P. Wells
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 3 yr
First year reflecting a formal COO role to support the ten-year capital plan.
Named executive officers (5)
- Jason P. Wells - Chair, President & CEO since 2024
- Christopher A. Foster - EVP & CFO since 2022
- Monica Karuturi - EVP & General Counsel since 2021
- Jesus Soto, Jr. - EVP & COO since 2025
- Jason M. Ryan - EVP, Regulatory Services since 2020
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-03-05
- CEO
- Jason P. Wells
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 3.2 yr
Transition year following CEO succession from Dave Lesar to Jason Wells.
Named executive officers (5)
- Jason P. Wells - President & CEO since 2024
- Christopher A. Foster - EVP & CFO since 2022
- Monica Karuturi - EVP & General Counsel since 2021
- Jason M. Ryan - EVP, Regulatory Services since 2020
- Lynne Harkel-Rumford - EVP & CHRO since 2022
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-03-06
- CEO
- Dave Lesar
- CEO span
- 5
- C-suite
- 6
- Avg tenure
- 5.1 yr
Pre-succession structure with combined President/COO role under CEO Lesar.
Named executive officers (5)
- Dave Lesar - CEO since 2020
- Jason P. Wells - President & COO since 2023
- Christopher A. Foster - EVP & CFO since 2022
- Monica Karuturi - EVP & General Counsel since 2021
- Jason M. Ryan - EVP, Regulatory Services since 2020
Year-over-year changes
2024 marked the CEO succession from Dave Lesar to Jason Wells and a slimmer C-suite.
- CEO span: 5 → 4
- C-suite size: 6 → 5
- Avg tenure: 5.1 → 3.2 yr
- promoted Jason P. Wells - President & CEO (was President & COO) (DEF 14A filed Mar 2025)
A standalone COO role was added to strengthen operational execution.
- CEO span: 4 → 4
- C-suite size: 5 → 5
- Avg tenure: 3.2 → 3 yr
- new Jesus Soto, Jr. - EVP & COO (DEF 14A filed Mar 2026)
The board
Board of directors
2 directors. 1 of 2 independent (50%). Source: most recent DEF 14A.
Jason P. Wells
Chair Inside
CEO, CenterPoint Energy
Christopher H. Franklin
Lead Indep. Independent
CEO, Essential Utilities
Also on: Essential Utilities
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of CenterPoint Energy?
Jason P. Wells has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2024 and became Board Chair in 2025.
What type of organizational structure does CenterPoint Energy use?
CenterPoint Energy uses a hybrid enterprise structure with centralized functional leadership and a strong corporate operations layer.
How many direct reports does CenterPoint Energy's CEO have?
The CEO has four direct executive reports: the CFO, COO, General Counsel, and EVP of Regulatory Services.
How has CenterPoint Energy's leadership changed recently?
The company added a Chief Operating Officer role in August 2025 and appointed a new Chief Accounting Officer in March 2026.
Does CenterPoint Energy have a COO?
Yes. Jesus Soto, Jr. was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer effective August 11, 2025.
Sources
- 8-K Filing, Feb 23, 2026
- Company Proxy Statement, Mar 2026
- SEC EDGAR: CenterPoint Energy, Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: CenterPoint Energy, Inc. 10-K Annual Report
Reference
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Creately. "CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/centerpoint-energy/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
CenterPoint Energy, Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-03-04. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130310/000110465926023457/tm261341-3_def14a.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/centerpoint-energy/ · last updated 2026-04-01