ERCOT’s ever changing Board of Directors has lost another member with the recent resignation of Bob Kahn.
The grid operator’s CEO from 2007 to 2009, Kahn resigned from the board Thursday over a conflict of interest as general manager of the Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA).
Kahn said in a letter to the board that one of TMPA’s four member cities, Denton, is involved in a lawsuit against ERCOT and its board members. He said he had planned to recuse himself “from any discussions that pertained to this conflict,” but he came to realize that might not be possible. ERCOT legal counsel reviewed the matter and concluded that Kahn’s fiduciary responsibility on the board “would create an awkward situation.”
“After further consideration, and after discussing the matter with my counsel, I believe that the more prudent course is for me to resign from my position,” Kahn said in his letter.
Kahn was elected to the board on March 5 by municipal segment members. New Braunfels Utilities CEO Ian Taylor is the sector’s alternate representative.
Five out-of-state directors resigned on Feb. 23; another non-Texan withdrew his nomination; and two other directors also left the board, leaving it with eight members at its low point. (See Former ERCOT CEO Rejoins Board.)
With Kahn’s resignation, the 16-member board now has 10 members, including Public Utility Commission Chair Arthur D’Andrea and ERCOT CEO Bill Magness. Both are ex officio members: D’Andrea has resigned from the PUC but will keep his seat until a successor is named, while Magness, who was fired March 3, has agreed to serve for a 60-day transition period that ends May 2.
TMPA ran the coal-fired Gibbons Creek Generating Station for Denton and its other member cities, Bryan, 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.
