The leader of Orange-based utility operator Avangrid has been appointed CEO of Iberdrola, a multinational energy company headquartered in Spain, which is also Avangrid’s parent company.
Pedro Azagra has been CEO of Avangrid – and head of Iberdrola’s U.S. business – since May 2022. Iberdrola announced the change on Tuesday.
Azagra oversaw the company “during a period of substantial growth in both financial performance and project development and execution,” Avangrid said.
“He has built a strong management team at Avangrid, which will allow the company to build on his vision to serve the group as it continues to advance its leadership in the global energy industry,” the company said in a statement.
Azagra previously served as the chief development officer for Iberdrola. He worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley before joining Iberdrola in 1997.
He has a degree in law and business administration from the Instituto CatĂłlico de AdministraciĂłn y DirecciĂłn de Empresas at the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Madrid, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Â
Azagra is also a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of the Edison Electric Institute in the U.S. and a member of the board of trustees at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
New CEO, deputy CEO named
Meantime, Avangrid has named Jose Antonio Miranda and Kimberly Harriman as CEO and deputy CEO, respectively.
Miranda is currently the president and CEO of Avangrid Power and Harriman is currently Avangrid’s senior vice president of public and regulatory affairs.
Miranda has served as president and CEO of Avangrid Power since October of 2021 and has led the growth of the company’s energy generation business in the United States, Avangrid said.
Before joining Avangrid Power, he was CEO for Siemens Gamesa Americas and chaired its boards in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. He also served as chairman and CEO of Gamesa in China for 10 years.
Miranda has a master’s degree in business administration from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Madrid, Spain, and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Oviedo in Spain.
Harriman joined Avangrid in December 2020 and was promoted to her current position in June 2022. She coordinates state government relations and regulatory affairs for electric and gas utilities in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine, as well as power generation projects across 22 states.
Prior to Avangrid, Harriman worked for over 20 years on energy issues for the State of New York and served as senior vice president of public and regulatory affairs at the New York Power Authority.Â
Before that, she was general counsel at the Department of Public Service, where she worked on major rate cases. Harriman also served as lead energy adviser at the state and federal levels for the New York Governor’s Office. Â
Harriman graduated from Albany Law School at Union University and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Siena College.
Shake-up at Iberdrola
Azagra replaces Iberdrola CEO Armando Martinez, who stepped down after three years in the role.
Iberdrola has been investing heavily in the United States and bought the outstanding shares of Avangrid that it did not already own for $2.55 billion last year.
The sale turned Avangrid, which was publicly traded, into a private company.
Iberdrola is widely recognized as the world’s largest producer of wind power, with roughly 23,000 MW of installed wind capacity globally as of late 2024.
Azagra’s appointment comes at a time when the Trump administration has canceled offshore wind projects in the United States, ordering the halt of construction on major projects and imposing a moratorium on the new ones.
However, Trump’s executive order did not impact an offshore wind project that Avangrid is developing through a joint venture off the coast of Massachusetts, Vineyard Wind 1.
The project is under construction and is fully permitted.
Avangrid, which has offices in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Maine and Oregon, employs about 8,000 people.
It owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England.
Avangrid also owns and operates more than 75 energy generation facilities across the United States producing 10.5 GW of power.Â
In Connecticut, Avangrid owns United Illuminating, Southern Connecticut Gas, Connecticut Natural Gas, Avangrid Service Co. and Avangrid Management Co.
