Building the future: Harry Sideris leads Duke Energy into a new era

Over his 29 years and 20 jobs at Duke Energy, Sideris has learned every aspect of this complex business and played a key role in some of its most pivotal moments

Harry Sideris has had a lot of jobs at Duke Energy – 20 to be exact. Now, as the company stands on the brink of a transformative era, he’s stepping into his biggest yet.

On April 1, Sideris succeeded Lynn Good as CEO, following her retirement after more than two decades of distinguished service. Over his 29 years at Duke Energy, Sideris has learned every aspect of this complex business and played a key role in some of its most pivotal moments – from the merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy to the company’s operational excellence efforts, from Hurricane Irma to Hurricane Helene.

“I’ve known Harry for 26 years and can tell you this: He’s a phenomenal leader,” said NiSource President and CEO Lloyd Yates, a former Duke Energy senior executive. “He knows the business and leads with principles, clear communication and an incredible willingness to engage.”

Harry Sideris became president and CEO of Duke Energy on April 1.

Balancing future needs with current costs is a constant challenge in the utility industry because it requires building capacity for a world that’s still emerging. But this forward-thinking approach is embedded in Duke Energy’s DNA, dating back to the company founders who built power plants to serve the booming textile mills of the early 1900s.

Today, AI, advanced manufacturing and economic development across Duke Energy’s seven-state service territory demand unprecedented infrastructure development. As an engineer with a people-first ethos, a gift for stakeholder engagement and a knack for seeing around corners, Sideris is well equipped to lead the company in this new era. He brings both the technical expertise and visionary leadership to address today’s pressing issues: building and maintaining a grid that can power both our regional economy and the AI revolution, modernizing a generation fleet while ensuring reliability and affordability, and honoring Duke Energy’s legacy – and the people whose hard work built it – while also charting a bold new course.

‘This guy is really something’

Sideris grew up in Asheville, N.C., the youngest of three children born to Greek immigrants. His father, Gus, spent his days at Bell’s Traditionals in Biltmore Village, hand-tailoring suits and pressing clothes with a 20-pound iron. By night, Gus crafted clothes for politicians, businessmen and local leaders from their home basement.

“I’ll never forget sitting at my dad’s feet as he fitted a towering Billy Graham for a three-piece suit,” Sideris recalled.

His parents taught him that hard work and integrity can make anything happen.

With a degree in chemical engineering from NC State University, Sideris began his career in the energy industry in 1996 at Carolina Power & Light. He quickly gained a reputation for his reliability and excellence across operations, maintenance and technical engineering roles.

In his early plant days, Sideris (front row, far left) became known for his calm affect and effective communication. Duke Energy's W.H. Weatherspoon Plant, now retired, was located in Lumberton, N.C.

After the merger of Carolina Power & Light with Florida Progress, forming Progress Energy, Sideris was tapped for the No. 2 job at Bartow Plant in St. Petersburg, Fla. Charlie Gates, then the general manager of Progress Energy’s South region, needed a leader who could navigate the delicate post-merger environment, build rapport with a beleaguered team and address performance issues with the right touch.

“I’d known through the plant network that Harry was a great talent,” Gates said. “But when I brought him down, I saw right off the bat, ‘Oh my God, this guy is really something.’”

Sideris' calm demeanor, focus and effective communication, whether in the boiler room or the boardroom, became his trademarks. “He had an ability to get out and talk with the workforce and get them to understand that he was there with them,” Gates said. “He made people feel they belonged, that they had value. That’s what drove the culture.”

Two and a half years later, Sideris was promoted to plant manager. Under his leadership, the plant’s performance metrics improved considerably.

“Charlie and Harry helped turn Florida around,” said Yates, Progress Energy’s vice president of fossil operations at the time. “Harry understood Human 101: People want to be listened to. If you can listen to their concerns, say, ‘OK, what are some ideas to fix those concerns?’ and help them implement them, that’s power. People are more committed to their ideas than to yours.

“If employees see you are approachable and attentive, you get an energy in an organization that’s just amazing,” said Yates. “And it spreads fast.”

Personal connections, simple solutions

As Sideris built a reputation as a turnaround expert, he also became known for his flexibility, readily changing roles or relocating as needed.

“Consequently, he moved a lot,” Yates said, laughing.

In 2006, Sideris was named plant manager at Sutton Steam Plant in Wilmington, N.C. Three years later, he took the top post at Roxboro, one of the nation’s largest power plants.

Sideris gathered with alumni in October 2024 to mark the retirement of Allen Steam Station in Belmont, N.C. Allen was one of the plants under Sideris' purview after Progress Energy and Duke Energy merged in 2012.

He inherited issues with all four of the station’s units, said Jeff Flanagan, then a maintenance supervisor at Roxboro. But Sideris immediately sought to understand the issues and how to address the problems.

He handled the daily challenges of running a power plant with a commonsense approach: Stay level-headed. Look for the simple solution. Tackle the problem.

Sideris was also approachable, able to forge – and sustain – a connection with anyone.

“You wanted to work hard for him because he invested in relationships,” said Flanagan, now general manager of Carolinas Dispatchable Generation at Duke Energy. “I was always at least two levels away from Harry at the plant, but he could tell you what I did and what was going on with my family and things I wanted in my career. Most leaders can’t do that.”

2020 vision

In July 2012, following the $32 billion merger of Progress Energy with Duke Energy, Sideris was named vice president of the Carolinas West Generation Fleet, overseeing the region’s fossil/hydro operations. Two years later, he was promoted to senior vice president of Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) at a time when the company was reexamining its paradigm around operational excellence, environmental stewardship and risk.

As the new head of EH&S, a group he calls “the conscience of the company,” Sideris was tasked with ensuring the safe operation of all facilities as well as the health and well-being of the communities Duke Energy serves. Focused on championing a culture of continuous improvement within EH&S, Sideris introduced a five-year vision for the group: the “2020 Plan.” The plan had ambitious targets, including a goal of reducing the safety incident rate to 0.2.

To rally the team, Sideris set up a fake optometrist’s office and filmed a video of him pretending to get an eye exam – a play on their 20/20 vision. He also walked around handing out shades.

"Our future was so bright we needed sunglasses,” Sideris said, laughing.

“His approach was so different than what we were used to,” said Jessica Bednarcik, then the manager of remediation and decommissioning in EH&S. “And there's always some skepticism when you're starting down a new path. But it was exactly what we needed. He needed to do something to show us he cared. It got us to say, 'There is a future. We have a goal, and we have a leader in our corner.’”

Under Sideris’ leadership, Duke Energy improved compliance, environmental performance and safety.

Bednarcik, now senior vice president of enterprise safety and generation services, continues to embrace that leadership approach. Duke Energy has been the highest-ranked utility for safety among its peers for nine consecutive years.

Calm is contagious

In late 2016, Sideris found out he was headed back to Florida for another new assignment: Florida state president.

Sideris and Melissa Seixas, then the team’s director of government and community relations, built a strong rapport quickly. Sideris and his wife, Catinna, even opted to send their two daughters to the same school where Seixas and other employees sent their children.

Sideris succeeded Lynn Good, pictured middle, following her retirement after more than two decades of service.

Seixas remembers a conversation in the parking lot after a United Way event, where Sideris asked her about her career aspirations. “Harry has this ability to be both the boss and a caring teammate,” she says.

Sideris’ personal mantra, “calm is contagious,” guided him and his team when Hurricane Irma, a Category 4 storm, hit all 35 counties in Duke Energy Florida’s service territory, cutting power to 1.3 million customers. Duke Energy mobilized more than 12,000 workers, but restoration was slow, particularly in the hardest-hit areas where the electrical system needed to be rebuilt.

There was also a strain on the company’s communications systems, which added to customer frustration.

Sideris had a few pacing-in-the-parking-lot moments, Seixas said, but he remained a steady hand and trusted voice when the company’s senior leaders descended on Florida. To repair trust with external stakeholders and customers, Sideris gave a press conference in front of a debris pile and met with countless community leaders, acknowledging the company’s shortcomings without making excuses.

Seixas – now Duke Energy Florida’s state president – says these leadership principles have guided her through every storm since.

The next 120 years

In June 2018, Sideris was named chief distribution officer, overseeing the so-called highways and side streets of the electric grid to ensure power flowed safely and reliably to every corner of Duke Energy's six-state electric service area.

Like his team, who worked tirelessly to restore power in harsh conditions, Sideris could see beyond the poles and wires – to the family dinners, small business dreams and vibrant communities the infrastructure helped make possible.

“At a company like this, it’d be easy to think like a network operator,” said Lynn Good, who served as CEO of Duke Energy from 2013 to 2025. “We’ve got a big network – power plants, transmission lines, distribution lines – and we do it all well. But we also have to think about who’s on the other end. They’re not ratepayers – they’re customers, and their expectations are as dynamic as any other part of our business. Harry has always understood that.”

In 2019, this understanding propelled Sideris into his next role as senior vice president, customer delivery and services and a member of the company’s senior management committee. Here, his team wasn’t just managing the grid – they were reimagining it.

Sideris became a champion of the customer-first ethos. At an internal leadership conference, he passed out “Think Customer” batons and encouraged leaders to see themselves as relay racers: Every Duke Energy teammate has a responsibility to care for the customer and then pass that commitment on to the next person.

Sideris wants Duke Energy teammates to see themselves as relay racers, caring for the customer and then passing that commitment (baton) on.

Now, as Sideris takes the helm as president and CEO, Good has passed that symbolic baton to him.

“We’ve come a long way from the days when a doctor, an engineer and a tobacco mogul decided to dam up a river in North Carolina to harness hydroelectric power and transform a region," he said. “But we still wake up every morning to power the lives of our customers and the vitality of our communities. It’s the honor of my life to lead Duke Energy as we innovate and reimagine the energy system for the decades to come.”