By Robert Mullin

PORTLAND, Ore. — Just as the Western Energy Imbalance Market’s Governing Body was poised to fill the empty space within its ranks, another vacancy immediately popped up.

The EIM Governing Body voted Wednesday to fill the seat vacated by one of its original members — but not before revealing that its newest member had also resigned his position the night before.

Member Travis Kavulla was notably — but not surprisingly — absent from the body’s monthly meeting in downtown Portland. After all, his wife had just recently given birth, Governing Body Chair Carl Linvill told a hotel conference room packed with regional stakeholders.

But Linvill then delivered unexpected news: “We received a letter from Travis that he has been offered an opportunity which he plans to accept, which will mean that he will no longer serve — effective immediately — on the EIM Governing Body.”

Kavulla, a former member of the Montana Public Service Commission, was elected to the Governing Body in June 2018 after being term-limited out of his commission seat. (See CAISO Board Approves More CRR Auction Changes.) He currently serves as the energy director for R Street Institute, a D.C.-based think-tank that advocates for “free markets and limited, effective government.”

Kavulla, who joined R Street last October, shared his resignation letter to the EIM but told RTO Insider,  “I’m not in a position to make any announcements at the moment.” The letter said he had accepted a job with a “market participant” and would be starting work next month.

Kavulla’s term as a Governing Body member was set to expire in 2021. His resignation marks the second premature departure from the body since April, when Kristine Schmidt, the group’s inaugural chair, vacated her seat to join the board of embattled PG&E Corp. Allowing Schmidt to hold both positions would have presented a conflict of interest, then-Chair Valerie Fong said at the time. (See PG&E Departure Leaves EIM Vacancy.)

To replace Schmidt, the body on Wednesday confirmed Anita Decker, a familiar name to industry participants in the Pacific Northwest.

From 2014 until earlier this year, Decker served as executive director of the Northwest Public Power Association, an advocacy group representing about 150 community-owned electric utilities in nine Western states and British Columbia. She was chief operating officer of the Bonneville Power Administration from 2007 to 2014, when she also performed a stint as acting administrator for the Western Area Power Administration. Prior to that, Decker had a 27-year career with PacifiCorp, where she rose to the position of a business unit vice president, having worked for the utility in Oregon, Wyoming and Utah.

“We had an incredibly qualified pool of candidates this year,” said EIM Nominating Committee Chair Jennifer Gardner, a senior attorney with Western Resource Advocates. Gardner described the deliberations leading to the nomination of Decker as being “consensus-driven,” bringing together representatives from the EIM’s various sectors in a “time-intensive process.” In addition to seeking someone with subject matter expertise, the committee put a high priority on experience in the West, with a focus on geographic diversity, she said.

“It was a difficult decision because we had some very qualified candidates, which I think speaks well to the Energy Imbalance Market in general,” member John Prescott said. “There’s a lot of interest out there from very qualified people that would like to serve on this Governing Body.”

Decker’s term will run from Sept. 1 until June 30, 2020, when Schmidt’s term was set to expire.

Not ‘Discretionary’

After the Governing Body’s three remaining members voted unanimously to confirm Decker, Fong quickly posed the question of whether the body should prompt the Nominating Committee to begin searching for Kavulla’s replacement.

“That’s technically not on the agenda,” said CAISO Senior Counsel Greg Fisher, who was sitting with the EIM leaders.

“Is it actually an action item? It’s just a recommendation that they move forward,” Fong said.

Fisher advised against proceeding so informally, saying the matter was not “discretionary” for the Governing Body, given the amount of time left before the expiration of Kavulla’s term, which leaves uncertain the process for replacing him.

“So, we’ll wait to hear back with a formal opinion from you on that and we’ll proceed,” Linvill confirmed.

Speaking to RTO Insider about Kavulla’s resignation after the meeting, Linvill said, “We’ll miss his contributions. He was an important member of the Governing Body — and we’ll leave it to him to announce what his plans are.”

“Travis is a big loss. He brings a wealth of expertise to the Governing Body,” Gardner said. But having recently vetted the list of industry hopefuls seeking to take over for Schmidt, she was optimistic about finding yet another replacement.

“I think a lot of folks have an interest in seeing the EIM succeed. I have no doubt we’ll have an excellent pool of candidates.”