Talen Energy Corporation announced a planned leadership transition and significant capital allocation changes in a filing dated September 25, 2026. The company’s board of directors has named Terry L. Nutt as the next Chief Executive Officer and President, effective January 1, 2027. Mr. Nutt, who currently serves as President, will also join the Board upon his appointment. He will succeed Mark "Mac" A. McFarland, who has provided notice of his intent to step down as CEO and Board member effective January 1, 2027. Following the transition, Mr. McFarland will serve as a Senior Advisor to the Company from January 1, 2027, until his retirement on March 1, 2027.
Terry Nutt, age 50, has served as Talen’s President since December 2025 and previously held the role of Chief Financial Officer from July 2023 through December 2025. He brings over 25 years of experience in the energy industry, including time at independent power producers and energy trading firms. Prior to joining Talen, Mr. Nutt served as Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director for EDF Trading North America from 2018 to 2023, and held senior finance and risk management roles at Vistra Corporation.
Mr. Nutt has entered into a second amended and restated employment agreement effective January 1, 2027. The agreement has an initial term through February 28, 2028, subject to automatic annual renewals unless either party provides 90 days’ written notice. Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Nutt’s base salary is set at $1,200,000, with a target short-term annual incentive bonus of 135% of base salary and a target long-term incentive award value of 700% of base salary.
In addition to the leadership changes, Talen announced an upsizing of its share repurchase program. The Board approved an additional $1.5 billion authorization, bringing the total remaining capacity of the program to $3.0 billion through December 31, 2028. The company also entered into $1.5 billion in accelerated share repurchase agreements with Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Banco Santander, S.A. Talen intends to fund these transactions, along with the remaining share repurchases, through the proceeds of a capacity monetization transaction and cash on hand.
Separately, Talen Energy Marketing, LLC executed an arrangement to sell future capacity revenues awarded by PJM for the 2027/2028 and 2028/2029 delivery years. The transaction involves transferring rights to approximately 6.5 GW and 6.0 GW of cleared capacity, with aggregate revenues of approximately $1.5 billion. The company expects to meet a targeted net leverage ratio of 3.5x by the second half of 2027.
