As David Malone takes on the duties of Gas South’s chief operating officer, he aims to remove friction points for the company’s customers by working on the foundation his predecessor built.
As a natural gas marketer, Gas South does the marketing to acquire the customer. The company buys natural gas from different sources and delivers it to the distribution company. In Georgia, Atlanta Gas Light is the company that delivers natural gas to the customer and shares meter readings with Gas South so it can bill the customer.
Malone said Gas South has managed the growth of metro Atlanta well.
“Anytime that we grow, it drives complexity into the business, and we’ve had to adapt to that complexity. And a lot of that’s been through technology, making sure that we have the right systems in place that can scale as we grow,” he told Rough Draft.
The company considers natural gas as a foundational fuel that has helped significantly to reduce emissions, especially through the displacement of coal for electric production. Gas South does see renewable energy becoming more a part of the energy mix in the southeast, Malone said.
“We think natural gas is a very important domestic fuel that helps us to move closer to be more sustainable actually and to reduce emissions as a whole,” he said.
Malone, who has worked for Gas South for 18 years, replaces Manon Brochu as COO, who is retiring after nearly two decades.
Former Vice President of Sales Jason Dolder succeeded Malone as chief sales and marketing officer and will lead strategic initiatives to drive sales growth and brand visibility. He held this role at Infinite Energy, which Gas South acquired in 2020.
Malone said he’s excited that with the changes all the people who moved into leadership roles were internal candidates.
“Not only do we think this is an important part of our team members’ job satisfaction, but it’s also important for our succession planning,” he said. “And that we’re able to fill all of these roles with internal candidates to me means that we’re making the right hires but we’re also developing our team to take on larger roles. So I’m personally really excited about that.
Gas South tries to develop its leadership from within by making sure staff members get the development they need to take advantage of opportunities when they are available, he said.
Malone said he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Florida State University. He did consulting work for Arthur Andersen before that firm went under because of Enron’s challenges. He followed that job with business process risk consulting, which he said is a form of internal audit. Moving from consulting he went to work for Southern Company as a business analyst. In that role, he helped market all its operating companies, such as Georgia Power, Alabama Power, Savannah Electric, and Gulf Power.
When Southern Company started Southern Company Gas, he was involved in the acquisition and then in a marketing consultant role. When Cobb EMC purchased that company for its affiliate, Gas South, Malone said he moved over with that transition.