The president and CEO of Orange-based utility company Avangrid Networks Inc. has stepped down from her position and will receive a $1.53 million payment under her separation agreement.
Catherine S. Stempien announced her departure in May, but her separation agreement took effect Sept. 4, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Avangrid Networks oversees the company’s eight electric and gas utilities, which serve about 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Stempien was also responsible for regulatory affairs, asset management and planning for Avangrid Networks.
Stempien started at Avangrid in February 2021. She previously served as president of Duke Energy Florida; associate general counsel at Cinergy Corp., a subsidiary of Duke Energy; and senior counsel at AT&T.
She also worked as an associate at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and as a paralegal at Hartford-based law firm Shipman & Goodwin early in her career.
Stempien was the first woman president and CEO of Avangrid Networks, in an industry long dominated by men, according to a May 2022 article from the Connecticut Business and Industry Association’s website. She lived in West Hartford at the time, the article said.
Stempien is known for mentoring women to help them advance in their careers.
“We must support other women and we must stick together,” she told a crowd at CBIA’s 2022 When Women Lead conference, CBIA reported at the time.
Stempien graduated from Boston University School of Law and received her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College. She also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
She has not yet listed a new position on her LinkedIn profile.
