Leadership Team
Christopher A. Helms
James F. Thomas
Claire A. Burum
Victor M. Gaglio
Stacy Franz
Colin Harper
Richard Keyser
John McNamara
Shi-Lin Yeh
Christopher A. Helms
As Executive Vice President of NiSource and CEO of the NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage group, Chris Helms is responsible for executing an aggressive growth strategy. He has held a variety of leadership roles in the energy sector, including president and chief executive officer of CMS Panhandle Companies, president of Centennial Pipeline Company LLC, and executive vice president of CMS Gas Transmission Corp.
Helms is the 2008 Chairman of the Southern Gas Association during its Centennial Celebration Year and also has served as vice president of the Groupe International des Importateurs de Gaz Naturel Liquefie. He currently serves as a director of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) and is a member of INGAA's Executive Committee. He is a member of the state bar associations of Texas, Louisiana and Florida, and is a past member of the College of the State Bar of Texas (1993).
Helms earned bachelor's degrees in political science and journalism from Southern Illinois University and a juris doctor degree from Tulane University School of Law.
James F. Thomas
Jimmy Thomas is Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage. He is responsible for all the commercial activities including marketing, optimization & logistics, business development, gas control, facilities planning, and customer services.
Prior to joining NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage, Thomas was involved in the formation of the midstream energy company Ceritas Energy, LLC from February 2003 to March 2006. He managed his own energy consulting practice, Franklin Management, from June 2000 to February 2003. He has held numerous senior executive and commercial leadership positions at Dynegy, Inc. from October 1988 to June 2000. Prior to joining Dynegy, Thomas held various key commercial roles at Cabot Energy Marketing, Tenngasco and Tennessee Gas Transmission.
Thomas has served on the Board of Directors of the Natural Gas Transportation Association and the Houston Energy Association. He has also served on many industry committees, including the National Petroleum Council.
Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University.
Claire A. Burum
Claire Burum is Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs for NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage. She is responsible for managing regulatory matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and public affairs.
Burum has been involved in the natural gas pipeline sector since 1987. Prior to joining NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage in 2006, she held various key leadership roles at Gulf South Pipeline. Her broad range of industry experiences includes rate and regulatory, marketing, information technology and strategic analysis.
Burum holds Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Houston. She is located in Houston, Texas.
Victor M. Gaglio
Victor Gaglio serves as Senior Vice President of Operations for NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage. In this role, he oversees day-to-day operations of more than 15,000 miles of pipeline, 1 million horsepower of compression and 37 underground storage fields for NGT&S companies.
Gaglio began his career as a compressor engineer at Columbia Gas Transmission after graduating from Virginia Tech with a bachelor of science degree in engineering and mechanics. In more than 25 years of service he has held various positions at Columbia Transmission, including area superintendent, area manager, and manager of Gas Control before being named Vice President in 1999.
Stacy Franz
Stacy Franz joined NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage in 2008 as Vice President of Optimization and Logistics. In this role, she is responsible for the daily and near-term optimization of the organization’s transportation and storage assets.
Franz has worked in the natural gas industry for more than 20 years, serving in leadership roles in accounting, trading and marketing with Natural Gas Clearinghouse, Koch, Entergy-Koch and Gulf South. She most recently served as Senior Vice President for Boardwalk Pipeline.
A CPA in the state of Texas, Franz graduated from Sam Houston State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Colin Harper
Colin Harper is General Manager for the newly-formed Business Development group at NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage. He is responsible for leading the business development efforts and coordinating with the commercial and operations teams in the effective and efficient deployment of the company’s growth capital.
Harper has been involved in delivering growth projects in the gas and electric industries for 26 years. Prior to joining NGTS, he served in various leadership roles with Transco Energy Company, Cogen Technologies and SUEZ Energy (formerly Tractebel Energy).
Harper has served as an At-Large Board Member of the Natural Gas Supply Association and is a past member of the Southern Gas Association and the National Energy Supply Association.
Harper earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana.
Richard Keyser
Dick Keyser is Vice President of Engineering Services at NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage. In more than 34 years of experience in the interstate natural gas transmission industry, Keyser has been responsible for project management, project design, planning, construction management, contract negotiations and daily operations of large onshore and offshore pipeline companies. He is now primarily responsible for growth projects.
Keyser most recently served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Cheniere Energy, where he was responsible for assembling and developing an operating organization in Southwest Louisiana. He has gained extensive experience in the development and execution of FERC 7c expansion projects for the Panhandle, Trunkline and Texas Eastern pipeline systems.
Keyser has served on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Pipeline Research Council and as a member of the Southern Gas Association and Southern Gas Association Operating Executives & Planning Group.
Keyser is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering. He also completed the University of Tennessee’s Executive Development program.
John McNamara
John McNamara is Vice President of Marketing and Organization for NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage. In this role, he is responsible for the management and execution of the pipeline segment’s growth strategy. This includes revenue generation through the management of customer relationships, the origination of new opportunities and the development of growth projects.
McNamara joined Columbia Gas Transmission in 1998 and has spent his entire 10-year career with the NiSource companies. He has worked primarily in marketing and business development, serving in a number of different roles in market and competitive analysis, account management and project development. He has experience on all four of the major interstate pipelines that NiSource operates.
McNamara earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science from Rice University and an MBA from the University of Maryland.
Shi-Lin Yeh
Shi-Lin Yeh, a 35-year member of the NiSource team, is Vice President of Engineering for NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage. His responsibilities include overall maintenance and compliance of NiSource’s interstate pipeline system. His team is also responsible for the effective deployment of growth capital dollars for system expansion projects.
Yeh has served in various project manager and engineering positions, as well as facility planning/marketing positions within Columbia Gulf. He has been responsible for engineering technical services overseeing project designs and has served as engineering department head. Yeh has worked on and with construction, drafting, technical services, codes and standards, corrosion and turbine operation. He has also been responsible for operating budgets and has negotiated construction and operating, partnership, transportation and co-ownership agreements for co-owned facilities.
A native of Taiwan, Yeh earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Cheng-Kung University and a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Louisiana Tech University. He holds a Professional Engineer license in Texas and has served on the PRCI Board of Directors. He is also a member of both the Houston Pipeliner’s Association and the Steering Committee for the SGA Benchmarking Committee.
