Duke Energy's board of directors has elected Keith Trent group vice president, general counsel and secretary in an acting capacity, effective March 1, 2005. Trent will report to chairman Paul Anderson and serve on the company's executive committee.
Trent is currently general counsel, litigation, for the company. He succeeds Martha Wyrsch, who was named president and CEO of Duke Energy Gas Transmission, also effective March 1.
Keith has done an excellent job resolving many of the regulatory and litigation issues that Duke Energy has faced. He has successfully negotiated settlements that were in the best interests of our company, our customers and our investors and has helped rebuild positive relationships with regulatory and enforcement agencies, said Paul Anderson, chairman of the board and CEO of Duke Energy.
Trent joined Duke Energy in May 2002 with responsibility for managing all the company’s major litigation and government investigations. He also has had accountability for the legal teams that address the company’s environment, health and safety issues as well as labor and employment matters.
Before joining Duke Energy, Trent was a partner for more than ten years in the Dallas-based law firm of Snell, Brannian & Trent. Prior to that, he was an attorney at Jackson Walker in Dallas. He began his career as a reservoir/production engineer with Arco Oil & Gas in Houston in January 1982.