Jimmy Staton, President and CEO of Southern Star, today announced his intention to leave the company effective Feb. 28, 2022.
“My five years with Southern Star have been the absolute highlight of my career,” Staton said in a release. “Southern Star is an organization of wonderful team members who have accomplished so much over the last five years. I have no words to express the affection I have for the entire team, and I thank them, and the Southern Star Board, for allowing me to be their leader during this time.”
Staton will become the President and CEO of Santee Cooper, an electric utility located in South Carolina, after his departure from Southern Star.
According to the Souther Star release, their Board of Directors will work with senior leadership of the company “to ensure a smooth transition to a new CEO.”
In the interim, Board Chair Julie Dill will become Executive Chair and effective Jan. 1.
“On behalf of the full Board, I would like to thank Jimmy for his leadership of Southern Star over the past five years,” Dill said. “During his tenure, he positioned the company as a leader in the natural gas midstream space through various innovation, growth, technology, and safety initiatives. He also built a dedicated team that will continue to focus on our customers, communities and other stakeholders as we move Southern Star forward as a reliable natural gas provider.”
Dill has more than 35 years of experience in the energy industry and has been a member of the Southern Star Board of Directors since 2019. Prior to her retirement, she served as the Chief Communications Officer for Spectra Energy Corp (Spectra) which operated in three areas of the natural gas industry: transmission and storage, distribution, and gathering and processing from 2013 until Spectra’s merger with Enbridge, Inc. in February 2017.
Additionally, over the course of her career Dill served as the President and CEO of Spectra Energy Partners, the President of Union Gas Limited and served in various financial and operational roles with Duke Energy, Duke Energy International and Shell Oil Company.
Southern Star COO and Vice-President Shawn Patterson along with CFO and Vice-President Tami Wilson will each be promoted to Executive Vice-President.
Southern Star is a leading transporter of natural gas to America’s heartland, with approximately 5,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline in the Midwest and Mid-Continent regions of the United States. Their pipeline system, facilities and employees are located in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, and Texas, with their headquarters in Owensboro.
