Calvin G. Butler Jr. is president and chief executive officer of Exelon. Butler oversees Exelon’s six local electric and natural gas companies -- Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO and Pepco. Together, they form the nation’s largest utility company by customer count, serving approximately 10 million electric and gas customers in New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. He serves as chairman of each utility’s board and is a member of Exelon’s executive committee. Butler is a past chair of the Gridwise Alliance, an advocacy organization promoting modernization and innovation for the nation’s electrical grid.
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
Prior to being promoted to CEO on Dec. 31, 2022, Butler had been president and chief operating officer of Exelon. Previously, he served in roles of increasing responsibility at Exelon, including senior executive vice president and COO (2021), Exelon Utilities CEO (2019) and as CEO of BGE from 2014 to 2019. Prior to that role, Butler served as BGE’s senior vice president for Regulatory and External Affairs. In addition, he has held various leadership positions at ComEd, including as senior vice president of Corporate Affairs and vice president of Governmental and Legislative Affairs.
Before joining Exelon in 2008, he held senior leadership roles in external affairs as well as in manufacturing with the print, digital and supply chain solutions company R.R. Donnelley. Butler spent his early career with Central Illinois Light Company (CILCORP, Inc.), where he worked in government affairs, legal and strategy.
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
In addition to serving on the Exelon Board, Butler also serves as chair of each Exelon operating company board — BGE, ComEd, PECO and PHI. He is the vice chair of the Institute of International Education (IIE). He will be a new member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. He also serves on several nonprofit boards in areas where Exelon operates, and is on the Board of his undergraduate alma mater, Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. Butler also serves on the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress.
He has been recognized by several organizations for his leadership and community commitment. In 2021, The Daily Record named Butler to their “Power 100” list and has singled him out as one of its top 35 Influential Marylanders, as well as listed him three times as one of Maryland’s “Most Admired CEOs.” In 2020, he was honored with the BEYA Chairman’s Award,
recognizing Black leaders for their meaningful contributions to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
That same year, he was named among Black Enterprise magazine’s “Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America,” and as Zpryme’s “ETS Thought Leader of the Year,” honoring those with the “inventive and brave vision needed to inspire the global energy ecosystem toward sustainable modernization.” In 2019, the Boy Scouts of America honored him with the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Service Award and in 2022, he was a recipient of the organization’s Distinguished Citizen Award. He has also been named by Baltimore magazine as one of its “Top Ten Baltimoreans.” He is an active member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
EDUCATION
Butler earned a bachelor’s degree from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., and a Juris Doctor degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Mo. He received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Morgan State University in 2014.