PJM stakeholders elected two new members to the Board of Managers and re-elected a third to serve an additional term at the annual Meeting of Members on Monday.

Paula Conboy and Jeanine Johnson were elected to fill the vacancies left by retiring board Chair Ake Almgren and member John McNeely Foster, with Conboy serving a three-year term and Johnson serving a two-year term. Sarah Rogers, who was first elected to the board in 2012 and is the current chair of its Regulatory Committee, was re-elected.

PJM announced Conboy’s and Johnson’s nominations last month after a monthslong search. (See PJM Nominates Replacements for Board of Managers.)

Conboy is an energy economist with more than 25 years of experience as an executive, consultant and regulator around the world. Conboy is currently on the board of directors at the Energy Market Authority of Singapore and recently served as chair of the Australian Energy Regulator and a board member of the Australian Energy Security Board.

Johnson has more than two decades of experience designing products and managing cybersecurity at several tech companies, including NETGEAR, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, through McKinsey & Co., a management consulting firm. Johnson is the co-founder of SunToWater, a Silicon Valley company developing a devise to create drinking water from outdoor air.

The PJM Nominating Committee is looking to fill an additional board vacancy following the resignation last month of Neil Smith, who had been nominated for re-election. PJM said Smith announced his resignation after taking an executive position with a company that “would have presented a conflict of interest” if he continued to serve on the board. (See Neil Smith Resigns from PJM Board.)

The Nominating Committee plans to have a nomination to fill Smith’s seat in time for the Members Committee meeting June 23.

Retiring Board Members

PJM CEO Manu Asthana said the election of the new board members was “bittersweet” because of Almgren’s and Foster’s nearly two decades of service to the RTO.

“It’s hard for me to comprehend all that they have seen and all that they have been through and all that they have given to the organization,” Asthana said.

Foster was elected chair of the Risk Management Committee at his first committee meeting 17 years ago and remained the chair during his entire tenure, Asthana said. He has been a champion for “transparent” and “reliable” markets in PJM. “I want to thank him for his tremendous contributions to PJM over the years,” Asthana said.

Asthana gave extra praise to Almgren, who has served on the PJM board since 2003 and as board chair since 2018. Almgren agreed to extend his term as board chair for one year as Asthana came into his role as CEO, ensuring a smooth leadership transition.

“PJM would not be who we are today without your support, without your wisdom, without your guidance,” Asthana said. “You have poured time and energy and effort behind the scenes to help me.”

Almgren said it was an “honor and a privilege” to serve PJM and its members.