[1] Rowe transitioned from the legal sector to energy and relocated to the East Coast in 1984, when he was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Central Maine Power.
[1] After nearly a decade in that capacity, he went back to Chicago in 1998 to become CEO of Unicom Corp, the parent of Commonwealth Edison (ComEd).
The company had expensive and faulty nuclear power plants that operated at 49 percent capacity at the time,[4] coupled with recurring outages due to postponed maintenance.
[4] Some of Rowe's early initiatives included upgrading infrastructure, hiring new managers, and reversing the fortunes of ComEd's nuclear operations.
His decision to sell the company's fossil fuel fleet significantly decreased its reliance on coal to 6 percent of its portfolio.
[6] Rowe was noted for his vocal support of the proposed cap and trade mechanism for carbon emission control.
[7][8] His company left the United States Chamber of Commerce over the latter's highly public opposition to cap and trade.
[3] The trust also co-founded the Rowe-Clark Math and Science Academy[11] in Chicago's West Humboldt Park neighborhood, with the family donating $4 million to the school as of 2011.