By Suzanne Herel
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — PJM’s Annual Meeting last week marked a number of milestones: It was the largest yet, with 525 attendees, and it heralded the end of CEO Terry Boston’s eight-year tenure as well as the retirement of PJM employee No. 13, Jim Kirby, after half a century.
In remarks at the Members Committee meeting that ended the three-day event, Boston employed his trademark humor. During Superstorm Sandy, Boston said, “We got caught with our plants down.”
In his presentation, “21st Century Power Grids or ‘The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be,’” Boston revisited his time at PJM and identified the challenges facing the industry and his successor, Andy Ott.
He noted the flat demand for electricity, saying, “The load forecast is the lowest in my entire career.”
He followed that with discussions of extreme weather; the world’s largest fuel switch to low-carbon sources; the integration of demand response; and the need for more high-voltage direct current transmission.
“If we’re smart, over this next century we’ll focus on the electrification of automobiles,” Boston said, noting the rise in EV sales in the PJM footprint from nearly nothing in 2010 to about 28,000 in 2014.
He juxtaposed industry predictions from 15 years ago with the state of the market today to underscore the need to keep a balanced generation portfolio.
Fifteen years ago, he noted, gas-fired plants were to be avoided, with their high, volatile fuel prices. Wind and solar were absent from long-range plans. “The resiliency of the future is what we’re here to protect,” said Boston, who closed to a standing ovation.
“Thank you for your great and unique style of leadership,” Board of Managers Chairman Howard Schneider said, calling Boston’s tenure, “an incredible career that has improved the lives of millions of Americans.”
Schneider then introduced Ott, PJM’s executive vice president of markets, who will succeed Boston sometime in the fall. (See Incoming PJM CEO Ott Expects Challenges from an Industry in Transition.)
“Andy has led or has been intimately involved in every facet of PJM’s mission during his 18-year career at PJM, and prior to that at [General Public Utilities Corp.],” Schneider said.
Ott praised Boston for building a culture of openness and consensus-building at PJM. “You set a standard when you came on board,” Ott said. “You set an example for us all.”
Ott promised to continue Boston’s tradition, saying “I value diversity of opinion, diversity of thought.”
He added that he would work to help PJM “be more nimble, more innovative as we go forward.”