American Water appoints general counsel from in-house

American Water has promoted Stacy Mitchell to become executive vice president and general counsel, succeeding the retiring James Gallegos.

Mitchell was previously senior vice president and deputy general counsel, in which role she led American Water’s regulatory strategy and the execution of overall company-wide legal strategies.

Before joining American Water in 2019, Mitchell was vice president for rates and regulatory affairs at SJI Utilities in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She also held that position for SJI’s subsidiary, South Jersey Gas. Before her time at SJI, she was an attorney with Cozen O’Connor providing litigation, regulatory and environmental advice.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Gallegos joined American Water in 2022. He had previously spent more than a decade at Alliant Energy Corporation as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. His earlier roles include being vice president and corporate general counsel with BNSF Railway and vice president in the law department at Qwest Communications.

American Water describes itself as the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the US.

Susan Hardwick, president and CEO of American Water, says in a statement: ‘While we wish Jim well as he begins his retirement, we are so pleased to have Stacy in this role. With more than 25 years of experience in legal and regulatory work, [she] is an excellent addition to our executive team. She has deep regulatory, litigation, business planning and strategy development expertise and has successfully led our multi-state regulatory and legal teams.’