By Tom Kleckner
OKLAHOMA CITY — SPP last week added two additional members with high-level industry expertise to its Board of Directors with the election of former MISO CEO T. Graham Edwards and former NERC trustee Bruce Scherr.
SPP CEO Nick Brown told members last Tuesday the board’s expansion was necessary for succession purposes. The board now consists of Brown and eight independent directors.
FERC approved SPP’s request to add up to three more independent board members in August (ER15-1924).
Working with the Russell Reynolds Associates executive search firm, SPP’s Corporate Governance Committee whittled 25 initial applicants to eight before selecting Edwards and Scherr as finalists. Their appointments became effective immediately, and the two new directors joined the board for last week’s January meeting.
Kelly Harrison, Westar Energy’s vice president of transmission, expressed disappointment with the selections, saying it is “painfully obvious we’re not making progress on diversity.” The nine-person board now includes seven white men and two African Americans, Phyllis Bernard and Josh Martin.
SPP board Chair Jim Eckelberger responded by noting the eight finalists included one minority and one woman.
“We think we chose the best two of the eight we interviewed,” Eckelberger said. “Most members of the committee would agree we picked the best two.”
Brown welcomed Graham and Bruce in a statement, referencing their broad industry experience with grid operators, compliance and critical infrastructure protection.
Edwards, 62, was CEO of North Carolina-based ElectriCities from 2009 until his retirement in November. He served on MISO’s board from 2001 to 2009, the last three years as CEO.
Edwards was CEO and board chair for Santee Cooper in South Carolina, and one of the founders of The Energy Authority, a wholesale energy and marketing company. He served on the Western Electricity Coordinating Council’s board. He currently serves on the board of directors for Peak Reliability, which is responsible for reliability coordination for the Western Interconnection.
Edwards holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., and an MBA from The Citadel.
Scherr, 67, is the board chair and CEO emeritus of Informa Economics, a research and consulting firm specializing in agriculture and commodities. He has been with the company since 1987.
Scherr served on NERC’s board of trustees from 2002 to 2015 and was also a member of the Global Strategy Institute Advisory Council of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He sits on the boards of E. Ritter & Co., Santa Energy Co. and J. D. Heiskell & Co.
Scherr holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, and a master’s degree and doctorate from Purdue University, all in agricultural economics.
