Pedro Azagra. Image courtesy Iberdrola
Electric utility giant Iberdrola has appointed Pedro Azagra as its group chief executive officer (CEO), who until now has held the position of CEO of Avangrid, the Group’s US subsidiary.
With the appointment, Azagra becomes second-in-command of the group behind executive chairman Ignacio Sanchez Galan, who has led the company for roughly two decades.
He replaces Armando Martínez, who was appointed CEO of the Group in October 2022. A reason for Martínez’s dismissal has not been announced.
Azagra has been with Iberdrola for 25 years, first as executive director of development responsible for the company’s international expansion, and for the past three years as CEO of Avangrid.
Azagra earned a degree in Law and Business Administration from the Instituto Católico de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ICADE) at the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Madrid, Spain, where he has been a professor of Corporate Finance and Mergers and Acquisitions.
With an MBA from the University of Chicago in the US, Azagra developed his professional career in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley until joining the Iberdrola Group.
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On the side of Avangrid, Jose Antonio Miranda, president and CEO of Avangrid Power, and Kimberly Harriman, currently SVP, Public and Regulatory Affairs, have been named CEO and Deputy CEO of Avangrid, respectively.
According to Avangrid on social media platform Linkedin, the appointments reaffirms the strong US focus of Iberdrola, tapping into an experienced leadership team at Avangrid.
Iberdrola has been looking to the US as a point of strategic interest, in March 2024 announcing an investment plan of €41 billion ($47.6 billion) for the period to 2026, with 60% (€21.5 billion) dedicated to expanding and strengthening grids in the US, the UK, Brazil and Spain.
Additionally, the Group plans to allocate €15.5 billion ($18 billion) gross to their renewable-energy business. Of this amount, more than half is focused on offshore wind in the US, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
By the end of the decade, Iberdrola expects to reach €65-70 billion ($75.5-81.3 billion) in grid assets and 100,000GW of renewable portfolio for future development.
