Ashley McJunkin, gas operations division manager for Dominion Energy South Carolina
As Women’s History Month continues, Dominion Energy is spotlighting two women who have flourished in traditionally male-dominated roles while helping to provide natural gas and electricity to more than one million customers in the Palmetto State.
Ashley McJunkin, gas operations division manager, has been with Dominion Energy South Carolina for 11 years. Rose Jackson, director of fuel commodities, has almost 32 years of experience with the company.
McJunkin leads a team of 70 operations frontline and support personnel who are responsible for keeping the gas flowing safely and reliably for customers in the central region. These customers are among more than 425,000 Dominion Energy South Carolina customers who choose natural gas. She said her career path was influenced significantly by her mother, an engineer who has worked in power generation.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have positive examples of women in technical and leadership roles throughout my life,” McJunkin said. “The idea that energy is absolutely essential for everyone and for daily life really resonated with me. Industry doesn’t exist without it.”
Rose Jackson, director of fuel commodities for Dominion Energy South Carolina and Dominion Energy North Carolina
A graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in environmental engineering and a registered professional engineer in South Carolina, McJunkin encourages others—particularly women—to take advantage of invaluable lessons learned from stepping into unfamiliar roles.
“Be willing to take on new challenges,” McJunkin said. “Those new experiences open up a whole new world of opportunities.”
Jackson has tackled many new challenges and embraced countless opportunities over the course of her three-decades long career in the energy industry.
She took a detour from her original plan to pursue journalism at the University of South Carolina. Instead, she studied accounting, kicking off her career as a junior accountant in 1992 at the South Carolina Pipeline Corporation. She has since worked in energy marketing and nuclear fuel procurement. Today, she oversees the natural gas, coal and oil supply, and asset management functions of Dominion Energy South Carolina and Dominion Energy North Carolina, helping provide reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy to more than 1.4 million electric and gas customers.
Reflecting on the changes over the years, she noted the increasing diversity in the workplace, particularly the growing presence of women.
“It’s changed a lot because now when I walk into a room, there are more minorities, and there’s certainly more women than there used to be,” Jackson said.
What has not changed is the premium Jackson places on knowledge. She encourages women to focus on building their expertise as a key factor in personal and professional growth.
“I always tell women when they ask me for advice, knowledge is key because that is the one thing that you can control and nobody can take away from you,” Jackson said. “Your value goes up—not because of what you look like or what piece of paper you have hanging on the wall—but what you know.”
About six million customers in 15 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to providing reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy every day and to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.
Leave a Reply