Progress Energy regroups after CEO's death

Bob McGehee, 64, who died in London, helped revive downtown Raleigh

Employees at Progress Energy's headquarters in downtown Raleigh were grieving Tuesday after learning that their popular CEO, a gentleman who insisted that everyone call him Bob, died after suffering a stroke.

Bob McGehee, who was on a business trip in London when he became ill, died Tuesday. He underwent surgery at Charing Cross Hospital but never regained consciousness.

"You see a lot of people crying," said William Johnson, the company's acting CEO, who teared up when talking about his friend and mentor Tuesday afternoon. "He had an ability to connect with people that was just uncanny."

Even as the company observed an unofficial day of mourning, however, the wheels were being set in motion to name McGehee's successor. An announcement could come as early as Friday, when the board of directors meets. Johnson, 53, a former All-American college football player who is the company's chief operating officer and president, is considered the front-runner.

Jim Rogers, CEO at Charlotte-based Duke Energy, said Johnson is "well-respected and very talented. If he is [named] their leader, he will be a great leader."

But on Tuesday the focus was on McGehee. He will be remembered for his soft-spoken leadership, which bolstered the company's financial health and helped lead downtown Raleigh's renaissance.

The 64-year-old Mississippi native had been CEO of the electric utility -- the only Fortune 500 company based in the Triangle -- since March 2004. He steered the company on a back-to-the-basics course, selling off subsidiaries to strengthen its finances and allow it to focus on its core mission: keeping the lights on.

McGehee also was focused on preparing Progress Energy for the future, unveiling a controversial plan to license new nuclear reactors in Wake County and Florida, home to half of the utility's 3.1 million customers. Progress has about 10,600 employees, including 3,000 in Wake County, making it one of the area's largest private employers.

"He has been a strong leader for Progress, a strong leader for the state, a strong leader nationally on energy issues," said Duke Energy's Rogers.

McGehee, who never lost his silken Mississippi accent, was a personable gentleman -- always the gentleman -- who ran the company by consensus rather than by decree. "He was a tremendous leader, very highly respected inside the company. Not just respected, they genuinely liked him," said Keith Poston, a former communications department employee.

His death was particularly unsettling to friends and colleagues because he never took a sick day and exercised regularly -- a 45-minute aerobics workout or a three-mile jog, followed by lifting weights.

But he also put in 70-hour work weeks at the company's headquarters in downtown Raleigh. His 12-hour days put him on a first-name basis with the company's janitors.

"He didn't care who you were. You were somebody to him," said Johnson.

Land and the arts

Under McGehee's leadership, Progress continued its efforts -- begun under his predecessor, William Cavanaugh III -- to revitalize downtown Raleigh.

As CEO, McGehee was a behind-the-scenes supporter of two of downtown Raleigh's most ambitious real estate projects. Progress sold land on Fayetteville Street at a discount to Highwoods Properties, which is building RBC Centura's $100 million headquarters on the site. And the company agreed to sell almost an entire city block to developers who this year announced plans for a 38-story tower, plus a smaller companion building.

McGehee and his wife, Jolene, also were patrons of the arts. That led to the city's performing arts venue being called the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Under the naming rights deal, Progress pays the city at least $250,000 annually for 20 years, said Mayor Charles Meeker.

"The stereotype of the big businessman -- he wasn't that," said Robert Weiss, the artistic director for the Carolina Ballet. "He was much more than that."

But McGehee's tastes ranged beyond the high-brow. Poston recalled that, when he worked at Progress, he used to tape episodes of the TV show "24" for McGehee when the CEO was out of town and unable to catch an episode. And the voracious reader devoured military histories, mysteries and thrillers.

McGehee joined what was then Carolina Power & Light in 1997 as senior vice president and general counsel. He had been chairman of Wise Carter Child & Caraway, a Jackson, Miss., law firm, where he specialized in working with utilities -- including CP&L.

"I know many people who are great legal talents, or great engineering talents," said Sherwood H. Smith Jr., a former CEO of Progress Energy. "I think Bob had the greatest blend of engineering and legal talent that I have ever seen." McGehee studied engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Smith said he did not expect a new CEO to change the utility's strategy.

"I see no reason for there to be a change in direction at all," Smith said. "I think there is a great management team there. It is very much to Bob's credit that there is a strong team in place."

Funeral arrangements weren't available Tuesday.

(Staff writer Jack Hagel contributed to this story.)