Karen M. Hardwick Named New Senior Vice President and General Counsel of WGL Holdings, Inc. and Washington Gas

WGL Holdings, Inc. (WGL) is pleased to announce that Karen Hardwick is joining WGL Holdings, Inc. and Washington Gas as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. She will be responsible for managing and directing the company’s legal strategy and supervising the attorney staff and the corporate secretary. Ms. Hardwick will begin her role on October 15, 2018.

“Karen is going to be an excellent addition to our leadership team and we are pleased to welcome her to our WGL family,” said Adrian Chapman, President and CEO of WGL Holdings, Inc. and Washington Gas. “She brings a wealth of experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors and has been a seasoned leader across a variety of roles. Karen has earned a stellar reputation in the legal community for her collaborative manner, outstanding judgment, strategic planning and being a formidable advocate for her clients.”

Hardwick succeeds Leslie T. Thornton, who has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since 2011. Thornton will serve as Senior Vice President and Transition Counsel until her retirement at the end of November.

Prior to joining WGL, Ms. Hardwick served as General Counsel for the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), where she helped lead the ongoing transformation of the university, including serving as advisor on the president’s cabinet, rebuilding the legal operations to enhance service delivery, and directing and managing outside counsel in high stakes litigation. In addition, Ms. Hardwick managed the university’s corporate governance, labor and employment counseling and ligation, and legal affairs involving faculty and student matters.

“I’m excited about joining WGL and working with such a talented leadership team. I look forward to supporting WGL’s work as part of the AltaGas family of companies as we continue to thrive in the Washington, D.C., region,” said Hardwick. “Throughout my career as a general counsel and litigator, my rock solid commitment to my clients has been to bring high energy and laser focus to delivering legal advice shaped with analytical rigor, informed by savvy strategy, and tailored to achieve business imperatives. WGL has an award-winning and well-respected legal team and I look forward to leading that team as we continue to support the company’s mission.”

Before her role at UDC, Ms. Hardwick served as general counsel for Annapolis, Maryland, a municipal corporation. As a member of the city’s mayoral cabinet, she resolved substantive and parliamentary challenges in corporate governance and introduced an innovative program to integrate risk management analysis for all major capital projects. She also worked as General Counsel and Executive Vice President of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, leading the legal negotiation of public and private real estate development projects near the Washington Nationals’ Stadium and the Wharf at the Southwest Waterfront.

During her 18 years at Hogan & Hartson LLP (now Hogan Lovells LLP), Ms. Hardwick rose through the ranks from associate to equity partner, managing commercial litigation matters and complex investigations for technology companies, regulated utilities, commercial real estate developers and insurers.

Ms. Hardwick is active in the community through volunteerism and contributing her time and management skills to several non-profits that support a variety of charitable causes. Since 2006, she has served as Vice President of the Washington Children’s Foundation, and served in high ranking Board roles for organizations including the National Capital Revitalization Corporation, the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Greater Washington and the National Black Child Development Institute.

Ms. Hardwick has received recognition for her leadership in the legal and business communities, including earning the Community Service Award from the District of Columbia Building Industry Association and being named the Business Leader of the Year by the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Hardwick is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she received a Bachelor of Science Engineering, and earned a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Hardwick inherits a WGL legal team that was recently named Legal Department of the Year by National Law Journal. The department was recognized for its overall excellence, diversity and outside counsel management.

“Since 2011, Leslie Thornton has done a tremendous job leading our legal strategy and building our legal team into one of the best in-house teams in the country. She also was instrumental in guiding WGL through the rigorous regulatory process surrounding our recent merger with AltaGas,” said Chapman. “We are grateful for Leslie’s many contributions to WGL, her profession and the broader community. We wish her only the best as she retires from WGL.”

About WGL and Washington Gas

The WGL family of companies—Washington Gas, WGL Energy, WGL Midstream and Hampshire Gas—are now indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries of AltaGas Ltd [TSX:ALA]. WGL is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is a leading source for clean, efficient and diverse energy solutions. With activities and assets across the U.S., WGL provides options for natural gas, electricity, green power and energy services, including generation, storage, transportation, distribution, supply and efficiency. Our calling as a company is to make energy surprisingly easy for our employees, our community and all our customers. Whether you are a homeowner or renter, small business or multinational corporation, state and local or federal agency, WGL is here to provide Energy Answers. Ask Us. For more information, visit us at www.wgl.com and @wglanswers.

WGL’s regulated natural gas utility, Washington Gas, provides safe, reliable natural gas service to more than 1.1 million customers in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. The company has been providing energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers for 170 years. Visit us at www.washingtongas.com and follow us on Twitter @washingtongas.

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