Former ERCOT CEO Bob Kahn has rejoined the Texas grid operator’s Board of Directors as it begins to reconstitute itself after a wave of resignations following the massive February power outage.
Kahn, currently the Texas Municipal Power Agency’s general manager, was elected Friday by the municipal segment members as their representative on the board. He served as ERCOT’s CEO from 2007 to 2009 and previously served on the board from 2002 to 2006.
Kahn replaces Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent, who resigned after testifying before the Texas Legislature on Feb. 26. He told the Austin American-Statesman he plans to ask questions about the February power outage that cost ERCOT half its generating capacity and led to widespread blackouts.
Also last week, the independent retail electric provider segment elected Demand Control 2’s Shannon McClendon as its representative. She replaces Just Energy’s Vanessa Anesetti-Parra, who was among the out-of-state board members that resigned Feb. 23. (See ERCOT Chair, 4 Directors to Resign.)
The additions bring the board’s membership up to 10 directors. The five unaffiliated seats and the cooperative segment’s representative remain open. Directors representing industry segments serve one-year terms and are unpaid.
Kahn joined TMPA in 2012. The public power organization ran the coal-fired Gibbons Creek Generating Station for the member cities of Bryan, Denton, Garland and Greenville. The plant hasn’t run since 2018 and was sold in February to Gibbons Creek Environmental Redevelopment Group, which will take three years to demolish it and complete environmental remediation.
Prior to being named ERCOT’s CEO, Kahn spent 10 years at Austin Energy as general counsel and then deputy general manager. He also served in the Texas Public Utility Commission general counsel’s office and represented public power in the state’s deregulation legislation.
