David G. Hutchens

Early life

David Gerard Hutchens was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Arizona from 1984 to 1986, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. Following that, he joined the United States Navy, serving as a nuclear submarine officer between 1988 and 1993, where he cultivated his now much-lauded leadership skills. Upon finishing his military service, he became a Process Engineer with Alcatel Telecommunications for a period of two years. Hutchens then returned to the University of Arizona from 1996 to 1998, this time completing a Master’s of Business Administration degree, a credential which enabled him to springboard into the upper echelons of the corporate world.

Career

David G. Hutchens’ career in the energy sector began in 1995 at UNS Energy, where he climbed the corporate ranks, holding the positions Vice President, then Executive Vice President, and ultimately, President and Chief Executive Officer. In the day-to-day execution of these roles, his responsibilities included critical portfolios like energy generation, transmission, distribution, resource planning, and public policy. As such, he played a pivotal part in shaping the company’s culture and business strategies for a period of nearly two decades.

In 2018, Hutchens was appointed Executive Vice President of Western Utility Operations at Fortis Inc. while simultaneously serving as President and CEO of UNS Energy Corporation. His role was broadened in 2020, when he was appointed to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer of Fortis Inc. and charged with overseeing the operations of all ten Fortis utilities. This experience paved the way for his ascendency to the company’s highest executive levels. David G. Hutchens is currently the President and CEO of Fortis Inc., a position he has held since early 2021. In this role, he guides the company’s overarching direction and manages the breadth of its operations from its headquarters in St. John’s, Newfoundland in Canada, although his private residence is located in Tucson, Arizona.

David G. Hutchens is also an active board member for several major businesses in the energy sector. He previously served on the FortisAlberta board from 2016 until 2023, and has been on the board of FortisBC since January 2015. He joined the board of ITC Holdings Corp. in 2021, and has been a member of the Edison Electric Institute board since 2014, both positions he still maintains.

Speaking with journalist Trevor Cole in an interview The Globe and Mail published in 2024, Hutchens made the following remarks about the future of Fortis Inc. in particular and the energy sector in general: “We want to get as clean as we can, as fast as we can. We can’t mess up reliability. We can’t let the grid crumble. I mean, that’s loss of life, loss of economic value. So that part has to be maintained. But maintaining that causes affordability issues. Every policymaker, every government official knows that as soon as you lose the public’s confidence in this direction, it’s going to be stalled for a long time. Right now, public support for the clean energy transition is extremely strong. We have to make sure we don’t lose that. So we want to do this in the right fashion, at the right pace. That is going to take a lot of technology to flatten that demand curve so that we can manage it at the same time as we’re building out the infrastructure.”

In the past, David G. Hutchens has also made substantial contributions to certain civic and economic development organizations. He was the Chair of the Board of Directors at Sun Corridor Inc. between 2017 and 2020, and was a board member with the Western Energy Institute between 2016 and 2021. Additionally, he has been involved with the Southern Arizona Leadership Council since 2013.

Hutchens also has a long track record of volunteering his time with educational institutions, having served as a Board Member of Salpointe Catholic High School from 2013 to the present, as well as serving on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the University of Arizona, from 2015 to the present.

Net Worth

Unknown.