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Work Experience
Walt Higgins had been Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Pacific Resources since August 2000. Sierra Pacific is the parent company of Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company serving most of Nevada and parts of California. On July 31, 2007. Walt retired from active employment with Sierra Pacific although he remains Chairman of the Board.
He was previously Chairman, President and CEO of AGL Resources, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. AGL Resources is the holding company of Atlanta Gas Light, one of the nation’s largest natural gas distribution companies and the first deregulated natural gas utility in the United States. From 1993 through January 1998, Higgins served as Chairman, President and CEO of Sierra Pacific Resources, prior to its July 1999 merger with Nevada Power Company.
He was President and COO of Louisville Gas & Electric Co., the principal subsidiary of LG&E Energy, from 1991-1993. Prior to that , Higgins had worked for 14 years with Portland General Electric, where his last position was Senior Vice President, generation and transmission. In the mid-1980s, he was President of PGE’s first non-utility subsidiary, an energy conservation and co-generation company.
Organizations
Higgins has held positions on the United Way Board of Directors in both Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada, and Atlanta, Georgia, including Campaign Chairman in Atlanta; AEGIS Insurance Services, Board of Directors; The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, Board of Trustees and past Chair; University of Nevada, Las Vegas Foundation, Board of Trustees; the American Gas Association Board of Directors, Executive Committee and past-Chair of the Audit Committee; Desert Research Institute Foundation, Board of Trustees, Chair of the Audit Committee; Edison Electric Institute, Board of Directors; and Sierra Nevada College, Board of Trustees.
Early in his career, Higgins served as a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine officer. He later served in the U.S. Naval Reserve submarine force, retiring as a captain with 29 years of service.
Education
Higgins was graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy with a degree in Nuclear Science. He later had two years of Navy postgraduate nuclear engineering and submarine training, the Public Utility Executive Course at the University of Idaho, the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Program and graduate business studies at George Washington University.
Born in Washington, D.C. and reared in Medford, Oregon, Higgins is married to Jacqueline, and they live in Las Vegas. He has two daughters, a son, and four grandchildren. | 