BREAKING NEWS: After searching for more than 10 months to find a replacement for Jeff Butler, Northeast Utilities has hired a Midwestern utility executive to become president and chief operating officer at Connecticut Light & Power.

William Herdegen III comes to CL&P from Kansas City Power & Light, where he was vice president of transmission and distribution operations. Herdegen began his 35-year-career with a stint of over 20 years at Unicom, which is now known as Exelon.

 “With a focus on operational excellence, customer service, emergency response and employee safety, Bill helped to drive significant improvements for Kansas City Power & Light’s customers,” said Tom May, president and chief executive officer of NU said in a statement. “We know Bill will bring that same level of commitment to Connecticut to ensure the continued delivery of reliable, safe electric service to our customers everyday, especially during storms and other emergencies.”

Butler resigned from CL&P last November in the aftermath of the utility's widely-criticized handling of power restoration following Tropical Storm Irene and the late October snowstorm. Hundreds of thousands of CL&P customers were left in the dark after the storms, some for longer than 10 days.

  

Herdegen led an initiative to launch improvement to KCP&L’s storm response plan that resulted in that utility being ranked as one of the best in the country by a contractor for the Department of Defense and Homeland Security.

Heredegen will join CL&P on Sept. 11 and will report directly to Lee Olivier, NU’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Call Luther Turmelle at 203-789-5706. Follow him on Twitter @LutherTurmelle