The Eyes of Texas are on Curt Morgan and Vistra

One of the biggest questions facing Texas and the U.S. economy is whether the power industry can achieve a zero carbon foot print economically and in time to make a dent in climate change.

by Bill Sarno

For Curtis Morgan, the chief executive officer at Vistra, the largest energy generator and a major supplier of energy in fossil fuel rich Texas, the answer is a resounding "yes" and comes with a warning for his industry that addressing this challenge is absolutely necessary.

He is committed to putting his company at the forefront of the transition from fossil fuels to intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar and other new technologies like battery storage and hydrogen.

In his fifth year at Vistra, Morgan is focusing his industry experience and open leadership style to position the Irving, Texas-based company on the front line of the fight to adapt to and mitigate climate change while preserving the enterprise's financial viability and reliability to its customers. "As an energy leader we have to realize the world is changing and we have to embrace it," said Morgan who has spent more than 38 years in the broader energy industry, developing an expertise in the electric industry.

Morgan envisions Vistra as major innovator and adopter of new technology in transforming a high carbon-emission fossil fuel industry to cleaner, intermittent renewable energy sources, while also making sure the transformation retains sufficient conventional power resources to maintain electric grid reliability.

At Vistra, a publicly traded Fortune 275 company, Morgan inherited a company that had 70 percent of the company's power generation fueled by coal, which leaves the largest carbon footprint of any power generation source. "For a variety of reasons, including economics, environmental challenges, and obsolescence, we have reduced our coal exposure to get it down to 20 percent and we project it will go down below 10 percent in the next few years," he said.

For Morgan, the need to successfully handle the power source transition verges on being an existential challenge. "When you face adversity, you have two options – you can hold onto and defend the past and the present or you can can embrace the future and turn a challenge into an opportunity. I want to make sure this company doesn't end up like Blockbuster Video and fail to recognize the fundamental change facing us," he said.

Morgan also recognizes that he cannot make it happen by himself and that others need to participate and contribute to the process. "I can have a view of the world," he said, “but if I don't bring our people along the team will not be successful,” he added, stressing that it’s very important to communicate well and make sure that the company's team members understand the vision, too.

Team work has always been a key element of Curt Morgan's character. His father was an educator and coach, and he virtually grew up on a field and in a gymnasium playing team sports. "That is who I am and I have carried it into business," he said about his background. “At Vistra, we have a ‘One Team’ mentality, and it is fundamental to who we are and our future success.”

Morgan, who is 60, said he was born on the tail end of the Baby Boomers, "but is hellbent on trying to understand all generations."

One of the current realities he is tackling - diversity, equity, and inclusion – or DEI, correlates with life in the western Illinois town where he was raised and educated. His hometown has a diverse population and economic base – agriculture, industry and a BNSF transportation hub – which he said almost mirrors the national demographic profile. “I did not know that where I grew up - in a diverse community, exposed to team sports, and where what family you came from did not matter - would be informative in leading our company through today’s DEI challenges,” Morgan explained.

During his five years at the helm of Vistra, Morgan has fostered corporate responsibility and diversity, equity, and inclusion within its population, and it’s at the core of its culture.

This inclusiveness includes creating opportunities at the top. Curt expressed pride that several Latinos hold board and executive positions at Vistra including Arcilia Acosta as a Board Member, Stephanie Zapata Moore who is executive vice president and general counsel, Cynthia Vodopivec, senior vice president of environmental, health, and safety, Gabe Castro, senior vice president of business markets at TXU Energy and named to this year’s Top Latinos in Energy list, and Gabe Vasquez, vice president and associate general counsel – as well as many other Latinos in key positions.

Morgan reiterated that Vistra "is very much about helping all people and creating a company that works for everybody."

The Vistra CEO adds, "I did not come out of a business family, but somehow I got there when I went to college (Western Illinois University) and obtained an accounting degree, became a certified public accountant, and received an MBA from the University of Chicago.”

It was not long until Morgan began his nearly four-decade journey that eventually brought him to the top rung of the energy sector. The path he took included stops at a variety of major players in the energy industry.

Along the way Morgan spent 13 years at Amoco (now BP Amoco) and describes this oil and gas leader as "a great company, a great training ground.”

Another important stop was at Houston Industries, which was split into two Houston-based companies – CenterPoint and Reliant Energy, which took him deeper into the electricity world. "I've seen it all from upstream oil and gas to downstream retail energy businesses, and everything in between," Morgan said, adding, "I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly and learned a lot from it."

Before joining Vistra in October 2016, Morgan was an operating partner at Energy Capital Partners, a private equity firm that invests in energy infrastructure. He was also CEO for two of the firm’s power-focused portfolio companies.

Morgan also has played a role in how Texas restructured the electric industry from a regulated one into a competitive market. “I’ve been in the competitive electric market in Texas from the beginning and watched it evolve. We are at a fundamental crossroad in this market as we integrate intermittent renewables while trying to maintain and grow conventional electric resources, such as coal, natural gas, and nuclear-fueled generation – all while maintaining affordability and reliability.”

When the deadly winter storm Uri devastated much of Texas in February 2021 and more recently when a heat wave placed a major strain on the power system, Morgan, like millions of Texans, saw that having enough reliable resources to supply Texas’ growing electricity demand while making the transition to new sources of energy was vital but it would be easier said than done.

The Vistra leader expects these extreme weather events to happen more frequently and says that it is important to meet these problems. "In my view," Morgan said, "there is enough evidence to suggest that climate change is real and it will take a concerted effort to reverse the trend.”

Whatever changes are to be made in the power industry, “they need to be done in a reliable way," he stressed, "and that means we have to have a coordinated effort over a period of time."

In leading Vistra, Morgan said, "We have to be aware of all of these things, we have to be involved in all these new technologies and we have to be very good at what we do. All those things are critical to the company’s future."

Morgan sees his company as a leader in the electric industry transition process. "We have the building blocks to do it and we generate a lot of capital to invest in it; our base business is very good, we are good at all facets of power generation, we know markets and risk management."

Morgan says he will continue to speak out about the need to put reliability first when it comes to electricity. Electricity, he says, is the invisible lifeblood of society. “We are going to be a part of the energy transition, but we are also going to play a role in making sure it is done in a way that we can serve consumers and support the U.S. economy reliably.”

Morgan's vision for Vistra is simple in some ways and challenging in others. "Frankly, it is to do what we have always done for the past 140 years – to serve our customers well, to be a company that is reliable and can provide electricity at an affordable price. However, in the age of climate change we must also balance emissions. So, we must embrace innovation and technological change, transitioning our generation base away from carbon-intensive sources of electricity to low-to-zero carbon sources in a way where we will maintain the reliability of the power grid, all while being a sustainable company that’s successful well into the future."

He added: "We have to be open-minded to change, even if it is uncomfortable and has a cost to it," Morgan said. "It is not all about money, corporations today have to be much broader in who they are, they have to care about customers, communities, their employees, as well as their investors. We have a mandate to be a part of broader society and a part of the solutions for the problems that ail it.".