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Gerhard Jochum elected Chairman of STEAG Supervisory Board

“He is excellently suited for this role” // Guntram Pehlke resigns after nine years in office

Essen. Following the signing of the trust agreement between the municipal utilities participating in STEAG GmbH through Kommunale Beteiligungsgesellschaft GmbH (KSBG) and the restructuring expert Dr. Jan Markus Plathner, a change in the Essen-based energy company’s supervisory board is now also imminent: Guntram Pehlke (61), CEO of Dortmunder Stadtwerke AG – DSW21 and chairman of the supervisory board of STEAG since the beginning of 2013, today resigned from office at an extraordinary meeting of the board. Gerhard Jochum (68), who has already been a member of the controlling body since the fall of 2014, was subsequently elected as his successor by the supervisory board.

The change comes at a time when - as is clearly demonstrated by the consistently encouraging preliminary figures for fiscal 2021 - the STEAG Group's realignment is beginning to yield success and the company has recovered significantly in economic terms, thanks in part to the current price spike on the energy exchange.

Transformation will place greater demands on supervisory board chairman's time in the future
“In signing the trust agreement, another important step has been taken in the transformation process at KSBG and STEAG," Guntram Pehlke explains. This transformation process will pose considerable challenges for all those involved over the next two years, employees and supervisory board alike. In particular, the chairman of the supervisory board will have to accompany the management to an even greater extent than in the past, and coordinating and harmonizing all stakeholder interests will be even more time-consuming. I can no longer reconcile this time commitment going beyond its previous level with my responsibilities as CEO of DSW21.”

Guntram Pehlke agreed his withdrawal and the proposed successor as head of the board in consultation with the other municipal utilities participating in the KSBG (and indirectly in STEAG) - namely Energieversorgung Oberhausen, Stadtwerke Bochum, Stadtwerke Dinslaken, Stadtwerke Duisburg and Stadtwerke Essen -, trustee Dr. Jan Markus Plathner, and the employee representatives on the STEAG supervisory board.

Experienced energy manager
Pehlke’s successor, Gerhard Jochum, brings with him many years of experience in the energy industry from both executive management and supervisory board roles. These include his time as CEO of swb AG (Bremen municipal utilities), as a member of the executive board of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, as chairman of the supervisory board of Berlin’s gas and electricity supplier GASAG AG, as a member of the supervisory board of the French energy group ENGIE Energie Deutschland AG, and as a member of the board of directors of the Swiss company Repower AG.

“Gerhard Jochum is excellently suited for this role,” Guntram Pehlke affirms. “He has extensive experience in the energy market, has also accompanied other companies in transformation processes, and, through his commitment to KSBG and STEAG up to now, is familiar with both the situation and the individuals involved, whose respect he enjoys. Last but not least, he is able to devote the necessary time to the role of a supervisory board chairman actively accompanying STEAG’s transformation process.”