NEW ORLEANS — MISO Board of Directors Chairman Michael Curran paid tribute to Eugene Zeltmann, a former board member who passed away in late February after a battle with leukemia.

Zeltmann was a former CEO of the New York Power Authority and served on several boards after his retirement from that position in 2006. He served a nine-year tenure on MISO’s board, exiting in 2015.

“He served with considerable distinction and was a moral compass to us all,” Curran said during a March 29 board meeting.

After struggling to compose himself, Curran disclosed that he visited Zeltmann two weeks before he died and found the same man he served with on MISO’s board.

“‘Tell me about MISO, Michael. Tell me how everyone is doing,’ he said. He was Gene until the end,” Curran said.

RTO Adds 8 New Members

MISO can add eight new non-transmission-owning entities to its membership in 2018, board members decided Thursday.

Senior Vice President of Compliance Services Stephen Kozey said five of the eight applicants will join the RTO’s Competitive Transmission Developers stakeholder group: Avangrid Networks, Cardinal Point Electric, Eastex Transco, Ferrovial Transco International UK and LS Power Midcontinent.

MISO is also adding the city of Benton, Ark.’s Benton Utilities as a participant in the Municipal, Cooperative Electric Utilities and Transmission-Dependent Utilities sector, and Ranger Power and Tradewind Energy to the Independent Power Producers sector.

Election Year for MISO

MISO will also hold board elections later this year to fill three board seats.

Directors Phyllis Currie’s and Mark Johnson’s first terms are ending, and both are seeking re-election. Curran will reach the RTO’s limit of three three-year terms at the end of this year and will not be eligible for re-election.

MISO will use an outside search firm to produce a slate of outside candidates to be vetted by the RTO’s Nominating Committee (composed of stakeholders), board members and staff through summer.

— Amanda Durish Cook