Utah Power President Verl R. Topham on Friday was promoted to senior vice president and general counsel of the electric utility's parent company, PacifiCorp, in what was described as a realignment of top management and a restructuring of corporate operations at the firm, based in Portland, Ore.
Topham also was elected to PacifiCorp's board of directors.Utah Power spokesman David Mead said Topham's new responsibilities are part of a realignment of PacifiCorp's senior management responsibilities in which the company's electric operations will be organized into three major areas:
- Power supply
- Wholesale sales and transmission
- Retail sales and distribution operations
Mead said Utahn Harry Haycock, senior vice president and chief engineer, will retire. Taking his place will be Paul Lorenzini, president of Pacific Power, who will become the new senior vice president of engineering and capital projects.
The two appointments and the creation of the new organizational groups are effective immediately, said Mead.
A resident of Centerville, Haycock joined Utah Power in 1960 and has held several engineering, management and officer positions since then.
John Bohling, senior vice president of power supply land generation, will head the new power supply group; and Dennis Stein-berg, senior vice president of wholesale sales and transmission, will lead the new wholesale sales and transmission group.
Mead said a search would begin immediately for an executive to oversee the retail sales and distribution operations.
"While PacifiCorp will continue to conduct its retail business under the well-established names of Pacific Power and Utah Power, management of the retail group will be consolidated under this one officer," said Mead.
In the meantime, John Mooney, executive vice president of Utah Power, will act in that capacity.
The positions of division president have been eliminated, said Mead.
PacifiCorp's new president, Fred Buckman, said Topham will remain based in Salt Lake City and continue his involvement in community organizations, including his role on the Salt Lake Olympic bid committee, chairman of the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, the Utah Shakespearean Festival and Gov. Leavitt's Health Care Commission.
"(Topham) brings an extensive knowledge of legal and utility matters to his new assignment," said Buckman. "The scope of Pacifi-Corp's operations require a person who has intimate knowledge of the law, an extensive background in utility management and a legal and business strategist who, as a member of senior management, can help direct the company in what will become an increasingly more competitive business environment."
Topham joined Utah Power in 1972 as an attorney. He was named executive vice president in 1989 and president in 1990 and was instrumental in the 1989 merger of PacifiCorp and Utah Power & Light Co., the utility's former name.
Mead said that since the merger was announced in 1987, electric rates for Utah Power customers have dropped more than 20 percent.