PJM’s Board of Managers announced in a letter to members last week that the Nominating Committee is recommending former InterGen CEO Neil H. Smith to replace Chairman Howard Schneider, who will retire from the board at the RTO’s Annual Meeting next month.
The committee also recommended re-electing current board members Neel Foster and Sarah Rogers. The Members Committee will vote on the candidates at the Annual Meeting.
Smith was selected following a national search, assisted by the Heidrick & Struggles search firm, that included candidates suggested by current board members. He retired from InterGen in 2016 after 25 years with the company, working his way up from development director.
InterGen operates 11 power plants with a generation capacity of 7,686 MW, three compression facilities and a 40-mile gas pipeline. The facilities are located in the U.K., Netherlands, Mexico and Australia. The company is jointly owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and China Huaneng Group/Guangdong Yudean Group.
Smith also served as a non-executive director and board member of The Wood Group, a worldwide service provider for the oil-and-gas and power generation industries. He was on the board for nine years, between 2004 and 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile.
— Rory D. Sweeney