Electric utilities
10 CenterPoint Energy executives
These ten current and former CenterPoint Energy executives, including a former CFO, have held chief officer, executive vice president and senior vice president roles at the utility. Readers can learn how CenterPoint Energy's leaders approach finance, legal matters, customer service, technology, supply chain, emergency response and gas and electric operations.
Professionals to explore
01—10Carla Kneipp
LinkedInExperience: Senior Vice President Enterprise System Innovation · CenterPoint Energy
Senior Vice President Enterprise System Innovation at CenterPoint Energy since December 2025; her profile says she leads the company's multi-year enterprise transformation centered on implementing SAP S/4HANA and modernizing core business processes. Her other CenterPoint Energy roles include Senior Vice President Supply Chain & Work Place Services (2024–2025), Senior Vice President Supply Chain (2020–2024) and Vice President and Treasurer (2014–2020).
Don Daigler
LinkedInExperience: SVP Emergency Preparedness and Response · CenterPoint Energy
SVP Emergency Preparedness and Response at CenterPoint Energy since November 2024. His profile also lists CEO and Founder of Resilience Advisory Services LLC since 2023, and the 2024 roles of Resilience Executive Consultant at Chartwell, Inc. and Senior Consultant at Croixstone Consulting.
John Houston
LinkedInExperience: Senior Vice President · CenterPoint Energy
Senior Vice President at CenterPoint Energy since 2011, listed in the General Management department, and former Vice President Transmission & Substation at CenterPoint Energy (1997–2011). His profile also lists Managing Director, Operations & Project Management at Houston Industries (1993–1997) and General Manager, Gas Power Operations at Houston Lighting & Power (1992–1993).
Kenny Mercado
LinkedInExperience: SVP, Electric Operations & Technology · CenterPoint Energy
Former SVP, Electric Operations & Technology at CenterPoint Energy (2020), a role in which he wrote that he was leading the company's electric utility and technology operations. His profile also lists Div Sr Vice President, Houston Electric Operations at CenterPoint Energy (dated 1985–2020), and he has been EVP, Electric Utilities at Quanta Services, Inc. since 2022.
Monica Karuturi
LinkedInExperience: Executive Vice President and General Counsel · CenterPoint Energy
Executive Vice President and General Counsel at CenterPoint Energy since 2022, listed in the Legal department. Her other CenterPoint Energy roles include Senior Vice President and General Counsel (2020–2022), Deputy General Counsel (2019–2020) and Associate General Counsel (2014–2019), and she was Counsel - Corporate, Finance, Strategic Transactions at LyondellBasell (2010–2014).
Raja Subramanian
LinkedInExperience: Chief Customer Officer · CenterPoint Energy
Chief Customer Officer at CenterPoint Energy since 2026, listed at C-Level in the Customer Service department. His profile also lists Vice President and General Manager PowerWizard (2024–2026) and Vice President Customer Experience and Operations (2021–2024) at Gexa Energy, and Head of Operations - Chief Operating Officer at Direct Energy (2019–2021).
Shachella James, PMP
LinkedInExperience: Chief Enterprise Systems Officer · CenterPoint Energy
Chief Enterprise Systems Officer at CenterPoint Energy since December 2025. Her other CenterPoint Energy roles include Vice President Enterprise Systems and Platform Solutions (2024–2025), Vice President Information Technology Infrastructure (2022–2024) and Vice President Technology Operations (2017–2022), and her profile says her work aligns technology leadership with enterprise information and operations.
Stephen Hester
LinkedInExperience: SVP Supply Chain · CenterPoint Energy
SVP Supply Chain at CenterPoint Energy since 2025, listed in the Operations department. His profile also lists Vice President Integrated Supply Chain & Chief Procurement Officer at Nouryon (2022–2024), VP Supply Chain & Chief Procurement Officer at Westinghouse Electric Company (2020–2021) and Chief Procurement Officer at LyondellBasell (2012–2019).
Vincent Gaeto
LinkedInExperience: Senior Vice President, Natural Gas Business · CenterPoint Energy
Senior Vice President, Natural Gas Business at CenterPoint Energy since 2026, listed in the General Management department. His profile also lists President, East Region Gas Water Electric at Liberty (2022–2026) and Vice President, Transmission & Distribution Operations Safety Operations Customer at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (2019–2020).
Xia Liu, CFA
LinkedInExperience: EVP and CFO · CenterPoint Energy
Former EVP and CFO of CenterPoint Energy (2019–2020); her profile says she oversaw accounting, corporate strategy, financial planning, commercial risk, investor relations, treasury, tax and enterprise performance measurement functions. She has been EVP and CFO at WEC Energy Group since 2020 and was EVP, CFO and Treasurer at Georgia Power Company (2017–2019).
Choose the right perspective
Match the executive's function to your question, since finance, legal, customer, technology and operations leaders see different parts of how a utility runs. Check the dates of each person's CenterPoint Energy roles to see whether their experience there is current.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01How does CenterPoint Energy's leadership prioritize grid resilience and storm response investments?
- 02What do utility executives look for when selecting technology, supply chain or field services partners?
- 03How do regulatory proceedings shape a utility's capital planning and customer programs?
About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot and may describe past or present roles. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.
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