By Amanda Durish Cook
CARMEL, Ind. — MISO has named a business executive with almost two decades of experience in the energy industry as its new chief financial officer.
Melissa Brown most recently served as CFO for Atlanta-headquartered Drax Biomass, a wood pellet manufacturer with locations throughout the southeastern U.S.
The new hire comes just over six months after former Vice President of Finance Jo Biggers left abruptly in mid-August and the RTO opened a candidate search. (See Vice President of Finance Biggers Exits MISO.)
MISO spokesperson Jay Hermacinski said Brown will assume all the responsibilities that Biggers held in her role.
Since Biggers’ departure, corporate service tasks were delegated to Senior Vice President of Compliance Services Steve Kozey. Finance and corporate planning responsibilities were handled by Vice President of Strategy and Business Development Wayne Schug.
MISO CEO John Bear said Brown’s financial experience coupled with her energy background make her an ideal fit for the position. “Grid reliability and value-creation are our two top priorities at MISO. We need leaders like Melissa who will help MISO stay ahead of the constant changes we face in the energy industry,” Bear said.
Brown was Drax’s CFO from March to November and worked as an energy consultant for seven years with consulting firm Alix Partners.
She has also worked in different management roles at major utilities, including corporate treasurer and senior vice president of strategy and financial planning and analysis at Calpine; executive director of business development at NRG Energy; and manager of corporate financial analysis at AES. The RTO said Brown has a combined 19 years of experience in power generation, fuel supply and public utilities.
“I am excited to join this dedicated team of professionals and look forward to helping the organization be the most reliable, value-creating RTO,” Brown said.
Biggers’ predecessors include Mike Holstein, who served from 2001 to 2011, and James Torgerson, who served from 1999 to 2001.
