LANSDOWNE, Va. — PJM’s Members Committee voted not to reelect two incumbent members of the RTO’s Board of Managers: Chair Mark Takahashi and Terry Blackwell.

Committee Chair Lynn Horning, of American Municipal Power (AMP), called the body into recess, following Exelon’s motion to reconsider, to allow members time to prepare to cast votes on the motion and potentially a second ballot on the two board members. The committee will return to session on May 13 at 11 a.m. ET.

Takahashi received 30.8% sector-weighted support in the vote, shy of the 50% required to be elected, while Blackwell received 43.5% support. The committee did vote to elect Matthew “Matt” Nelson, principal of regulatory strategy at Apex Analytics, to fill the seat vacated by outgoing board member Dean Oskvig, who is retiring. Prior to his position at Apex, Nelson served as chair of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and worked on Eversource’s regulatory policy team for four years.

PJM CEO Manu Asthana expressed disappointment with the results of the vote but said he respects the will of the RTO’s members. Asthana noted the board is in the process of searching for his own replacement and also will be seeking a new board member when Charles Robinson steps away next year. (See PJM CEO Manu Asthana Announces Year-end Resignation.)

“As the outgoing CEO, I will say there is a lot of change happening at PJM with Dean leaving, with Charlie leaving next year … my experience with both Terry and Mark has been exceptional. I could not ask for more hard-working, dedicated board members,” he said.

In an emailed statement, PJM spokesperson Jeff Shields told RTO Insider, “PJM members, via our governing documents, decide who will serve on the independent Board of Managers.”

Introducing the motion to reconsider, Exelon’s Alex Stern said losing two experienced board members, the sitting chair especially, could cause expertise to drain from PJM at a particularly sensitive time, with looming resource adequacy concerns and an ongoing CEO search.

“We are in the beginning of a historic time, complete with an executive order declaring a national energy emergency,” Stern said, pointing to a series of “challenges” facing the RTO, including resource adequacy issues, large load additions and the transition to a new CEO.

“I’d like to ask for a revote. I’m hopeful that some of the folks that voted against may now, given the result, may appreciate the opportunity to consider … the destabilizing influence of what just happened with this vote,” he said.

That motion was seconded by Vistra’s Erik Heinle, who said he understands the frustration many members feel with PJM’s direction over the past year but contended this is a critical time for the RTO. He said both Takahashi and Blackwell have been excellent board members and that he appreciates their openness and willingness to reach out to RTO members. He said the results of the vote sent a message to the board that the membership wants to see a change in direction, but there is no reason to continue down the path of removing two experienced leaders.

Transparency Concerns

LS Power’s Marji Philips said PJM members have been extremely disappointed with the direction the board has taken. Without further statements from board members about how they would act differently, she argued there is no reason for members to change their votes on whether to reelect Takahashi and Blackwell.

“It’s not just a sign; it’s a sign that we want change … so what is the change we could see if we revote this?” she said.

Paul Sotkiewicz, president of E-Cubed Policy Associates, pushed back on the idea that removing two board members would be destabilizing, saying PJM is on a perilous course and a change in leadership is needed to avert a crisis down the road.

“This was clearly a vote of no confidence and to say that this would be destabilizing … I don’t think there’s been anything more destabilizing than the last few years at PJM,” he said.

Members also voiced concern about how a vote to reconsider could be administered. A third-party vendor conducts the vote to elect board members in a portal that provides PJM staff no access to see how individual members have voted. However, PJM Director of Stakeholder Affairs Dave Anders said the vendor cannot change voting on the fly. Therefore, the vote to reconsider would have to be done through PJM software. If the members give the directive, Anders said staff is willing to commit to ensuring that sector and member votes remain private and that the internal audit team can ensure the data is deleted without having been viewed.

Greg Poulos, executive director of the Consumer Advocates of the PJM States (CAPS), told RTO Insider that many advocates feel there has been little improvement since the 2024 Annual Meeting, when the sector voted against reelecting board members Paula Conboy, David Mills and Vickie VanZandt out of frustration with the design of the capacity market and a proposal to shift filing rights over regional planning from PJM’s membership to the board. (See Stakeholders Re-elect 3 PJM Board Members Over Consumer Dissent.)

Poulos said consumer advocates have supported several major board decisions — such as renewing the Independent Market Monitor’s contract and modeling the output of resources operating on reliability-must-run (RMR) agreements as capacity. But even in many of  those instances, he said, the board acted with little transparency and rushed through the stakeholder process, leaving advocates feeling their perspectives were not sought.

Poulos stressed that the advocates who voted against reelecting Takahashi and Blackwell did not do so out of opposition to them as individual candidates, but because there’s no other way to hold the board accountable, given that it meets in private and acts as a body. He noted that board member David Mills told the committee on April 12 that the board is planning to add a standing agenda item to the end of future MC meetings where attending board members will speak with stakeholders with the hope of providing more transparency.