Palmetto State News

John E. P. Morrison, a distinguished Carolina energy executive, has been named president and CEO of energy trade association E4 Carolinas.  

E4 Carolinas’ board of directors Chairperson Jeff Merrifield made the announcement Dec. 6, culminating a six-month search to replace retiring leader David A. Doctor.

Morrison, who resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and is currently CEO of Ecoplexus Solar, will assume his new role in mid-January, dividing his time in E4 Carolinas’ offices in North Carolina and South Carolina, including Columbia and Charleston.

“E4 Carolinas and the region are fortunate to have an incoming leader experience and well known both in the Carolinas and the energy industry,” Merrifield said in a company release. “John checks every box for this role and there will be no lull in our action from his first day due to his familiarity with our organization, the Carolinas, and the industry.”

E4 Carolinas will operate with an over $2 million budget in 2022, which is more than double its 2021 budget, Merrifield said.

E4 Carolinas, according to the release, recently launched three multiyear, federal grant-funded research and economic development projects for advanced nuclear technologies, energy hardware acceleration, and hydrogen. 

In January, E4 Carolinas will debut the Carolina Historically Black College and University Energy Leadership Pathway program.

“Promptly recruiting exactly the right leader at this time was essential to developing and accessing significant energy opportunities for the region,” Merrifield said.

Morrison has resided in the Carolinas for more than 40 years. He earned engineering degrees from Yale and Stanford and later earned a Harvard MBA. He has served as a member of E4 Carolinas Board of Directors and an Adjunct Professor at North Carolina State University.

“The country and indeed the world is at the start of a vital energy transformation in the way in which energy is supplied and used in all sectors of the economy,” Morrison said in the release. “E4 Carolinas and its member companies will be at the center of that change. I’m grateful that the E4 Board of Directors has asked me to lead the organization at this important time, and look forward to continuing and building upon the programs and services E4 Carolinas provides.”

Morrison succeeds David Doctor who served as President and CEO since 2014. Doctor will consultant with Morrison to facilitate an orderly transition during a period of rapid growth and opportunity.