John McFarland
SVP, Chief Commercial, Customer, and Digital Officer @Portland General Electric
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WORK HISTORY
SVP, Chief Commercial, Customer, and Digital Officer @Portland General Electric
Portland, OR, US
Promoted to SVP with expanded scope, adding Digital & Data strategy to the existing Commercial and Customer portfolio. Serve on the Company’s Executive Committee with direct P&L accountability for PGE’s Gross Margin, the critical spread between customer load revenue and power supply costs. Scope encompasses Energy Trading, Power Operations, Origination & Structuring, Data Center & Large Customer strategy, Grid Products (including the region’s largest VPP portfolio), Digital & Data platforms, Communications, Marketing, and Customer Experience serving 1M+ customers across 51 communities.
EDUCATION
Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business
Master of Science - MS, Quantitative Management (Analytics + AI)
Miami University
Bachelor of Science - BS, Business Administration (Information Systems, Accounting)
Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
Master of Business Administration - MBA, Strategy, Marketing, Finance
Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
Chief Marketing Officer Program
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Transformational Leadership Program
SKILLS
ABOUT JOHN MCFARLAND
The energy industry is being reshaped by three converging forces: the electrification of everything, the explosive demand from hyperscale computing, and the imperative to decarbonize while maintaining affordability and reliability. I’ve spent my career building the commercial engines that help legacy industries navigate exactly this kind of transformation.As SVP, Chief Commercial, Customer & Digital Officer at Portland General Electric (Fortune 900,$3.6B revenue), I hold a uniquely broad mandate that functions as both CCO and Head of Market Operations, with ownership of the company’s Gross Margin P&L. I manage the critical interplay between customer revenue (Load) and power supply costs (COGS), encompassing Energy Trading & Power Operations, origination of clean energy generation resources, and the company’s digital and data strategy. My scope includes two of the most consequential growth vectors in the utility industry: leading infrastructure strategy for hyperscale Data Center interconnections and scaling the region’s largest Virtual Power Plant (VPP) portfolio to ensure grid reliability for 1M+ customers.Previously, I served as CEO of FirstElement Fuel, where I led the world’s largest hydrogen fueling network (named one of TIME’s Top GreenTech Companies), secured Series funding, and established governance and capital allocation strategies in partnership with the Board of Directors. Earlier, I built my foundation across two Fortune 50 companies: at General Motors, where I led OnStar’s global brand as CMO and drove GM’s connected vehicle digital transformation; and at Procter & Gamble, where I managed multi-billion-dollar brands in Fabric Care and held progressive roles in Finance and Global Internal Audit.This cross-industry trajectory, spanning CPG, automotive, clean technology, and regulated energy, gives me a robust combination of capabilities: financial rigor (CMA, CIA certifications; P&G Finance), operational discipline (Chief Operating Officer with 40-point reliability improvement at FirstElement), commercial strategy (Forrester #2 ranked utility for CX), and digital fluency (Duke MS in AI & Analytics; GM connected vehicle ecosystem).I hold an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, an MS from Duke\'s Fuqua School of Business (Data and AI focus), and completed Stanford’s Transformational Leadership Program.
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