Board and Management

Appointed on April 14, 2020
Executive Chairman & CEO, FRP Holdings, Inc.
Chair, Board of Directors

Appointed on April 14, 2020
President, The Regency Group
Vice Chair, Board of Directors

Appointed on April 14, 2020
Executive Vice President & Regional President, Iberia Bank
Secretary, Board of Directors

Appointed on April 14, 2020
Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (Retired)

Appointed on April 14, 2020
President & CEO, Edward Waters College

Appointed April 14, 2020
CEO, UF Health Jacksonville

Appointed on April 14, 2020
President and CEO, Ascension Florida

Paul McElroy was named JEA’s interim managing director and chief executive officer by the board of directors on May 5, 2020. He previously served JEA as its permanent managing director and CEO from 2012 to 2018, and prior to that as the company’s chief financial officer and vice president of financial services.

Before originally joining JEA, Mr. McElroy served as a vice president and general manager for Bombardier Capital in Jacksonville and in Colchester, Vermont. Prior to that, he served in a variety of management positions with Pitney Bowes Credit Corp., including controller, director of marketing and vice president of internal finance in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Mr. McElroy currently serves on the board of trustees at the University of North Florida. He has previously served on the boards for The Energy Authority, Florida Reliability Coordinating Council, Northeast Florida Safety Council, Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies. He has also held several leadership positions within the American Public Power Association, including treasurer, chair of the Finance and Audit Committee and Retirement Committee and as an executive committee member. He also served as a member of the Large Public Power Council CEO Roundtable.

Mr. McElroy holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana and a certificate from the Advanced Management Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He pursued graduate-level studies at the University of Bridgeport and the University of New Haven in Connecticut.

Brian Roche began his career with JEA in 1983 as a co-op student. He then went on to serve in the roles of Director, Financial Planning Budgets & Rates; Director, Meter, Billing and Collections; System Planning Coordinator, Account Executive, and Project Engineer. Most recently he served as JEA’s VP/GM of Water/Wastewater from December 2012 to June 2018.

Mr. Roche has led teams and worked across both electric, water, and wastewater utility systems and functions including Finance, Engineering and Construction, System Planning and Development, Customer Service, and Operations. In addition to his 26 years of service at JEA, Brian most recently worked at Orlando Utilities Commission and has seven years of experience in private business, including engineering positions at CH2M Hill and Amoco Oil Company.

Mr. Roche earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Florida, and Master of Accountancy and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of North Florida. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a registered Professional Engineer.

Ricky Erixton began his career as a co-op at JEA in 1989 in the Substation Maintenance Department and joined JEA in a permanent role in 1991 as an engineer in the System Operations Department. During his 30-year career at JEA, he has worked in the System Operations Department, managed Bulk Power Operations, had leadership positions in Transmission and Distribution Maintenance, Substation and Transmission Maintenance, and most recently was Senior Director of Transmission and Distribution. In this role, he was responsible for the maintenance of the entire JEA electric system, from generation resources to the customer.

Mr. Erixton holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida and holds a NERC System Operator Certification.

Hai Vu has nearly 22 years of experience in the water and wastewater field. Prior to joining JEA in 2004, he worked for a consulting firm as a design engineer and project manager. At JEA, he has served as the engineer for the Water and Sewer Expansion Authority, professional engineer for the development review group, project manager overseeing engineering and construction of various water and wastewater facilities, Manager of Water Plants Engineering and Construction, and Director of Water/Wastewater & Reuse Treatment and District Energy System.

Mr. Vu earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida. He received a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Florida and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Central Florida. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Florida.

Bruce Dugan has more than 30 years of electric, water and wastewater utility experience in Texas and Florida. At JEA, he led JEA’s Customer Satisfaction Improvement Initiative; Organizational Performance Improvement; Customer Care & Billing (CC&B) Project and Special Assignments; and Customer Sales and Service. As JEA’s spokesperson, he created the innovative news segment called Power for Pennies, designed to educate customers on ways to lower their energy and water bills. Power for Pennies aired on WTLV-12 for more than a decade.

Mr. Dugan holds a Bachelor of Arts Business Administration from Columbia College.

Angie Hiers served as JEA’s Chief Human Resources Officer from January 2013 to April 2019. She is a career human resource professional with industry knowledge and experience at strategic and tactical levels, in all aspects of human resources and organizational development. During her career, she has been responsible for employee and labor relations, compensation, benefits, recruiting, training and development, safety and wellness, diversity and inclusion, executive coaching and career transition.

Ms. Hiers served as Vice President, Human Resources for Baker Distributing Company, a subsidiary of the publicly traded company Watsco Inc. She also worked as a senior human resources leader for CSX Technology and Senior Vice President/Managing Director at Right Management Consultants. In addition, she held leadership positions in operations and human resources for Barnett Bank.

Ms. Hiers received a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management from Edward Waters College and a Master of Business Administration from Jacksonville University.

Alan McElroy joined JEA in 2014 as the Director of Fleet Services. Most recently, he served as the Director of Operations Support Services, which includes fleet services, facilities, supply chain (warehousing, investment recovery operations), utility locates and emergency preparedness.

Mr. McElroy joined JEA after a 32-year career at Duke Energy, where he served as Vice President of Fleet Services and Meter Operations. After the 2006 merger of Duke Energy and Cinergy in the Midwest, he led the combined Fleet Services and Meter Operations team.

Mr. McElroy earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Alabama, where he also received the Distinguished Fellow of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering recognition. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Queens University.

Wayne Young is a Jacksonville native. His 13 years at JEA were preceded by a highly decorated military career. During his career at JEA, he has served as Director, Meter Reading, Billing and Revenue Collections; Director, Advanced Network Metering; Director, Industrial, Commercial and Business Client Relations; Director, Government Affairs and Economic Development; and Director, Environmental Programs. He has authored nationally published articles on applying leadership and technology to enhance performance in the utility industry.

Mr. Young’s military career is highlighted by service at the Pentagon as Political Affairs Officer to numerous foreign countries and wartime Command of two Naval Warships – AEGIS Cruiser and Guided Missile Frigate. He also served as Director of the Navy’s Surface Warfare Engineering School and has earned certifications in operating mechanical, electrical, and water generation and distribution systems.

Mr. Young holds a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Master of Science in Telecommunications Systems and Master of Arts in Strategic Policy and Decision Making.

Kurtis Wilson joined JEA in March 2020 on an interim basis to lead its Office of Government Affairs, which is responsible for fostering relationships with federal, state and local partners and legislative bodies that impact JEA. 

Prior to joining JEA, Mr. Wilson served 25 years with the Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department, moving through the ranks from firefighter to Director/Fire Chief. It is there that his government affairs responsibilities began in 2011, when he was appointed to Division Chief of Administrative Services. Following that he was appointed to Division Chief of Fire Prevention in 2012, Division Chief of Operations in 2013, and ultimately Chief of the Department in 2015. In that role he worked with most city agencies, department heads and local elected officials to help solve problems they faced in the realm of public safety. His responsibilities included managing 1,600 personnel, all budget and legislative affairs, delivering state-of-the-art fire-rescue services to Duval County residents, and managing responses to large-scale events such as hurricanes Matthew and Irma, industrial accidents and multi-alarm structure fires.

Mr. Wilson earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from Flagler College and holds numerous certifications in Incident Command System, Hazardous Materials, and Urban Search and Rescue (USAR). 

Stephen Datz has worked in the Information Technology field for more than 30 years. His career at JEA includes positions as Director, IT Infrastructure and Compliance Assurance; Director, Technology Infrastructure; Manager, Technical Services; as well as system project leader for data architect. His previous roles include working for the St. Johns River Power Park, responsibilities for supporting a global network infrastructure in addition to leading the planning, analysis, design, construction, testing and implementation of several IT enterprise system upgrades.

Mr. Datz received a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from the University of North Florida.

As JEA’s Interim Chief Compliance Officer, Steve Tuten is responsible for JEA’s primary governance, risk and compliance (GRC) areas, including Audit Services, CIP Compliance, Electric Compliance, Ethics and Security. He has served as JEA’s director of audit services since November 2015.

Mr. Tuten has more than 35 years of internal audit, finance and consulting experience, primarily in the financial services industry. His Audit Services position is his third time serving as a Chief Audit Executive, having served in similar roles at Southern National Bank (now BB&T) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and EverBank (now TIAA Bank) in Jacksonville.

Jody L. Brooks rejoined the City of Jacksonville’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) in April 2020 and serves as Chief Legal Counsel to JEA. She provides operational, transactional and governance legal services to the organization.

Ms. Brooks previously worked for OGC from April 2013 to March 2019 and served as the Chief Legal Officer for JEA from 2016 to 2019. Immediately prior to rejoining OGC, Ms. Brooks worked as an Assistant County Attorney for Clay County.

Prior to her public service, Ms. Brooks served as General Counsel at Allen Land Group Inc. and in-house counsel with The St. Joe Company. She began her legal career as an associate with Lewis, Longman and Walker, P.A.

Ms. Brooks received her Juris Doctor, with honors, from the University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law, with a Certificate in Environmental Land Use Law in December 2000.