SPP staff and stakeholders on Friday lauded retired CEO Nick Brown for his leadership in building the RTO from a small regional organization into one that now reaches from the Texas Panhandle to the Dakotas.
Given the new normal, the celebration was a virtual one. Brown, sporting his usual SPP-logoed shirt, sat at home next to his wife, Susan, and watched as former and current staffers, directors, regulators and industry insiders praised him for the RTO’s success during his tenure.
Brown announced his retirement last July after 35 years with the grid operator, including 16 as CEO. (See SPP’s Brown to Retire as CEO in 2020.)
American Electric Power CEO Nick Akins invited Brown to Columbus, Ohio, for a game of golf and to share his expertise. The two were classmates at Louisiana Tech (Class of ’82), where they went by Nick A. and Nick B. to avoid confusion, and began working at Southwestern Electric Power Co. on the same day.
“He will leave a lasting legacy for SPP and the industry,” Akins said.
Former FERC Commissioner Colette Honorable, who also chaired the Arkansas Public Service Commission, toasted Brown with a glass of New Mexico bubbly and thanked him for exhibiting a collaborative approach with stakeholders, rather than “fighting everything at FERC.”
Omaha Public Power District’s Joe Lang recalled his first stakeholder meeting. Brown, as he always does during opening introductions, referred to himself as, “Nick Brown, SPP staff.”
“That’s when it hit me that SPP’s inclusive culture is driven from the top,” Lang said.
Harry Skilton, an SPP director for 18 years, welcomed the ex-CEO to the RTO’s alumni club.
“We’re a small group. There’s no dues or initiation ceremony,” Skilton said. “The only thing I ask of you is that anytime any of us should meet, to raise a good glass of claret to SPP and its motto, ‘Keep the lights on.’”
CEO Barbara Sugg credited her predecessor with inspiring her to reach beyond herself when she joined SPP. Sugg was appointed to replace Brown in January. (See SPP Board Taps Barbara Sugg as New CEO.)
“He believed in me. He saw things in me I didn’t see in myself,” she said. “He always set really high expectations and challenged us to meet those expectations. You can’t make people follow you. They follow you because you inspire them. I’m proud, I’m humbled, and I’m overwhelmed, in this crazy pandemic, to be stepping into his footsteps.”
Sugg assured those watching and listening that she will continue to “foster all those great things” Brown put in place.
“Nick poured his heart and soul and the vast majority of his life into SPP,” she said.
Brown’s retirement was effective in April. SPP had planned a dinner and celebration in his honor that month, but the coronavirus pandemic waylaid those plans.
Board of Directors Chair Larry Altenbaumer said, “It made sense to go forward at this time and conduct the event sooner, rather than later, in the same manner in which many of us are conducting our daily lives.”
When it came his time to speak into his wireless device, Brown recalled that when he joined SPP in 1985, SWEPCO CEO John Turk asked him whether he was sure what he was doing. After all, the organization only had five employees at the time, and Brown had already established himself as a gregarious, outgoing person.
“How are you going to be who you are when you love being around people so much?”
Brown, noting that SPP had about 300 stakeholders already, said he would do just fine.
“It’s just been a tremendous ride,” Brown said. “I’ve really kind of enjoyed having all of these weeks, from the official retirement day until today, spending time, thinking of each and every person who has touched me in this industry. We’ve shared blood, sweat and tears. This has been an exciting experience, that’s for sure, but things change and things move on.
Brown led the organization as it was recognized by FERC as an RTO and expanded into 14 states, admitting Nebraska utilities in 2009 and the Integrated System in 2015. SPP added a balancing market in 2007 and a wholesale day-ahead market in 2014, while also investing nearly $10 billion in transmission facilities. It became a reliability coordinator in the Western Interconnection in 2019 and will also manage an energy imbalance service market with eight western participants next year.
SPP’s membership will reach 100 members when EDF Renewables joins on June 1. The grid operator already has almost 24 GW of installed capacity and has produced as much as 78% of its energy from renewable sources.
The Board of Directors and Members Committee presented Brown with a resolution of “deep gratitude” recognizing his “unparalleled leadership.” Earlier in the day, they delivered to his house a bronze sculpture, titled “Place of Honor,” by his and Susan’s favorite artist, Colorado sculptor Joshua Tobey.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the position the organization is in,” Brown said. “With the board and the management team, and with Barbara as the new CEO, the future is great. I’m really excited to watch the organization continue to prosper,” Brown said. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, very much.”
