The Southern States Energy Board today announced that Kimberly Gray will become the organization’s Secretary and Executive Director, effective August 1, 2026. Gray succeeds Kenneth J. Nemeth, who will retire on July 31 after more than 54 years of service to the Board and the Southern region, a tenure that helped build SSEB into one of the nation’s most enduring interstate energy compacts.

Gray’s appointment follows SSEB’s formal Succession Plan and was unanimously approved by the Administrative Committee, Executive Committee, and full Board in accordance with the Board’s By-Laws. She has served as SSEB’s Deputy Director since 2022 and brings more than 32 years of progressively senior leadership within the organization, including prior service as Managing Director, Assistant Director of Geoscience Programs, and the Board’s senior geologist.

“Kimberly Gray has demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout her career with the Southern States Energy Board,” said Nemeth. “She has helped lead some of our most complex and consequential initiatives, understands our member states and territories at every level, and has the judgment and relationships to guide this organization through the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of energy across the South. I have every confidence she will lead with the same integrity and vision that has always defined SSEB.”

Gray joined SSEB in 1993 and has played a central role in many of the organization’s most significant initiatives. She has developed, secured, and directed a cumulative project portfolio exceeding $1 billion in state, federal, and public-private energy initiatives, spanning resource development, critical infrastructure planning, workforce advancement, and emerging technology deployment.

“I am deeply honored by the confidence the Board has placed in me,” said Gray. “SSEB has been my professional home for more than 32 years, and I recognize the responsibility that comes with leading an organization that has served the Southern region for more than six decades. The strength of SSEB has always been its ability to bring states together to address common challenges and to provide a unified regional voice on energy and environmental issues of importance to the South. I look forward to building on that tradition with the same commitment to service, stewardship, and collaboration that has guided my career as we continue serving our members.”