Venita McCellon-Allen is president and chief operating officer of Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), serving approximately 439,000 customers in Louisiana, Arkansas, East Texas and in the Panhandle area of North Texas. She has authority for distribution operations and a wide range of customer and regulatory relationships. In addition, the position of president and chief operating officer or AEP Texas reports to her.   

Previously, she was executive vice president – AEP Utilities East, responsible for the distribution, customer service and financial performance of AEP’s utility operating companies in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.  From 2008 to 2009, she was executive vice president – AEP Utilities West, responsible for distribution and customer service operations in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. From 2006 to 2008, she was president and chief operating officer of SWEPCO.  

From 2004 to 2006, she was senior vice president - Shared Services, responsible for human resources, information technology and telecommunications, procurement and supply chain services, corporate 

services and enterprise security.  Prior to that, she was senior vice president for human resources for Baylor Health Care System in Dallas, Texas. A 17-year veteran of Central and South West Corp., McCellon-Allen held leadership roles at CSW in operations, customer service, strategic planning and human resources. Her last position there was senior vice president for corporate development and customer service.  

McCellon-Allen was a leader on the Transition Management Team for the AEP-CSW merger, helping to drive the process of seeking savings, cultural change, staff selection and functional realignment.  

In 1983, she joined SWEPCO, then a CSW subsidiary, as a communications representative, and by 1994-95 she was SWEPCO’s Central Division manager in Texarkana, Texas. McCellon-Allen moved to Dallas in 1995 to become vice president-corporate services. She became senior vice president-corporate development in 1996 and senior vice president for both customer relations and corporate development in 1998.  

Joining Baylor Health Care System in September 2000, McCellon-Allen worked within the BHCS integrated health care delivery network that included 14,000 employees and about $3 billion in annual revenues.  

McCellon-Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas A&M University. She is also a graduate of the University of Chicago’s Executive Development Program and the Young Managers Program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.