RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors of Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D), has elected two new directors, James A. Bennett and D. Maybank Hagood, effective Feb. 15, 2019.

During the Dominion Energy-SCANA merger process, the company committed to appoint a member of SCANA's board or executive team to Dominion Energy's board of directors. Both previously served on SCANA's board of directors.

The company also announced the resignation from the board of William P. Barr, effective Feb. 12, 2019. Barr was nominated by President Donald Trump in December to be U.S. Attorney General, and he was confirmed today. Barr joined Dominion Energy's board in 2009 and chaired the Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee at the time of his resignation.

Thomas F. Farrell, II, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said:

"These two distinguished South Carolinians are business and banking leaders in the Palmetto State and bring to our board insights into the state and its energy needs, and hands-on familiarity with our operations there. They are terrific additions to our board, and we look forward to working with them to better serve our customers and be excellent stewards of our investors' money.

"The company will also miss Bill Barr. He served on our board with distinction and always provided wise and pragmatic counsel. We wish him well as our nation's 85th Attorney General."

Bennett has been South Carolina Mid-South Area executive for First-Citizens Bank & Trust in Columbia, S.C., since January 2015. He joined the bank in 1994 and, prior to his most recent promotion, was executive vice president, director of Public Affairs and chief diversity officer for 12 years.

Bennett served on the board of SCANA from 1997 until SCANA's merger with Dominion Energy. At the time of the merger, he served as chair of the Compensation Committee and as a member of the Audit and Executive Committees. He has been actively involved with the Columbia Urban League for more than 25 years, having previously served as League chairman, and is the former chairman of the board of Claflin University. Bennett currently serves as the vice chair of the South Carolina Bankers Association and is a member of the board of directors of Prisma Health.

Bennett earned a bachelor degree in political science from the University of South Carolina, and is a graduate of the South Carolina Bankers School. 

Hagood has been chief executive officer of Charleston, S.C.-based Southern Diversified Distributors, Inc., since 2003, and has been chairman since 2012.  He has also been chief executive officer of Southern Diversified subsidiary William M. Bird and Company, Inc., since 1993, having previously served as its president until June 2009. 

He sat on SCANA's board from 1999 until SCANA's merger with Dominion Energy. In 2018, he served as chairman of the board, having previously served as the board's lead director and chair of the Audit Committee. Hagood has served as a board member and chair of a variety of businesses and civic and charitable organizations during the past 25 years.

Hagood received a bachelor's in English from the University of Virginia (UVA), and later earned his MBA from UVA's Darden School of Business.

The additions of Bennett and Hagood, and the resignation of Barr, will bring the board's membership to 13.

Nearly 7.5 million customers in 18 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to sustainable, reliable, affordable and safe energy and is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy with about $100 billion of assets providing electric generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas storage, transmission, distribution and import/export services. As one of the nation's leading solar operators, the company intends to reduce its carbon intensity 60 percent by 2030. Through its Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, as well as EnergyShare and other programs, Dominion Energy contributed nearly $35 million in 2018 to community causes. Please visit www.dominionenergy.com to learn more.

SOURCE Dominion Energy