Duke Energy names executive from public relations powerhouse Edelman to lead communications

Duke Energy Corp. named Oscar Suris as its new chief communication officer. Suris is the president of Edelman New York's office.

Suris, aged 58, is set to join Charlotte's Duke (NYSE:DUK) at the end of May, replacing Selim bingol who served in that position for over eight years, retiring in March. Suris, 58, will report to Louis Renjel who was appointed executive vice president of external affairs and communication in March.

Oscar has an established record of driving major transformations through his expertise in leadership and external affairs. Renjel said, "We are delighted for him to be joining our team." "Meeting... customer expectations requires collaboration with our many stakeholder, and transparency and proactive communication are a fundamental element of this collaboration."

The architect of Duke Energy's 'Better energy future' campaign has been replaced

Suris will be responsible for developing communication strategies to support the company's clean energy transition and advance its brand. The company states that Suris will be responsible for media relations, employee communications and social media as well as advertising, issues management, business unit support and executive communications.

Suris is a Cuban native and will live in Charlotte.

In December 2014, his predecessor, Bingol was appointed chief communications officer. Bingol launched an advertising campaign in 2015 for Duke titled 'Power for Your Life'. In 2017, he created the 'Building the Clean Energy Future' campaign, which is still the main advertising effort for the company six years after.

Formerly served as the top communications officer at Wells Fargo

Suris has been president of Edelman's biggest market for more than a full year. Edelman is the largest independent communications company in the world.

He has 20 years experience providing strategic advice to Fortune 100 companies. He was the head of corporate communication at Wells Fargo & Co., (NYSE: WFC), for nine years until July 2018. He also held senior leadership positions at Ford Motor Co.