What made Toshiba pick Charlotte

Ali Azad has watched Charlotte’s energy industry grow from inside — 17 years at Duke Energy — and out — stints at American Electric Power and First Solar.

Now he plans to be an active player in that growth.

On Jan. 16, Toshiba Corp. named him chief executive of its new Toshiba America Energy Systems. The business stems from the consolidation of three independent Toshiba companies, along with a small number of employees from Toshiba subsidiary Westinghouse.

Azad describes it as a one-stop…