Peoples TWP is losing its leader.

Robert Hovanec, president and chief operating officer of Peoples TWP and senior vice president and chief financial officer of the Peoples Service Co., will step down March 1.

His contract expires this year, and he will turn 60 years old in August.

“My plan has always been to retire at 60,” Hovanec of Gibsonia said.

He started at T.W. Phillips Gas and Oil in 1981. Before that, he worked for five years at the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co., a job that had him on the road 39 weeks out of the year. He took the job at T.W. Phillips to spend more time at home, and he thought he only would be with the company temporarily.

Hovanec started as the financial assistant to the president, and became vice president of finance after his first year when the man who had that position had to retire. Hovanec credited the company’s staff for helping him rising in the ranks so quickly.

“The managers were fantastic,” he said.

In 2000, he became chief financial officer, making him responsible for all financial and regulatory activities. During his time as CFO, Hovanec played a major part in changing the company from a small business to a much larger company. He said the company built a reputation for having some of the lowest gas rates in the state and in the United States.

He became executive vice president and CFO in 2004, adding day-to-day operations to his duties. He became chief operating officer in 2007 in addition to his position as CFO.

In 2011, SteelRiver Infrastructure Fund North America LP of San Francisco and New York bought T.W. Phillips and changed the name to Peoples TWP. Hovanec was named the president and COO.

Over the years, he has seen the company grow.

“When I started at TWP, we were just a basic local utility,” Hovanec said.

In 1981, the company had a value of about $50 million. When it sold to SteelRiver, its value was $2 billion, an increase of 4,100 percent in 30 years.

No replacement for Hovanec has been named yet. Hovanec said he is not sure if his position will even be refilled since much of day-to-day operation has moved to Pittsburgh, where Peoples Natural Gas, also owned by SteelRiver, operates.

There are no plans to merge Peoples TWP and Peoples this year, but he said TWP probably will be absorbed into Peoples at some point.

Even if that happens, he said there are no plans to close the Butler office.

When the state Public Utility Commission approved SteelRiver’s purchase, one of the conditions was that the Butler office remain open for at least 10 years.

In his retirement, Hovanec said he would like to spend more time with his four grandchildren, as well as travel with his wife, Francine.

Hovanec graduated from Indiana (Pa.) University in 1976, and he earned his CPA license in 1978. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs.

He was a trustee at Indiana (Pa.) University from 1997 to 2009.

Hovanec was a past board member of the Butler Family YMCA, where he works out at every day at lunch, and the Butler County Chamber of Commerce. He currently is a board member of the United Way of Butler County.

He is involved with St. Catherine of Sweden Catholic Church in Hampton Township, where he served as president of the pastoral council, and he is a member of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese pastoral council.

Peoples TWP has 60,000 customers in 10 counties, with about half of its customers in Butler County.