ERCOT’s newly reconstituted Board of Directors met for almost 20 minutes Tuesday morning, enough time to share congratulatory messages and to approve amendments to the grid operator’s bylaws incorporating the state legislation that remade the board in the first place.

“That was painless,” an anonymous stakeholder or staff member said just before the video stream ended.

Board Chair Paul Foster and Director Chris Aguilar were only in the 10th hour of their three-year terms when the board meeting began. They are the first two of eight independent directors who will eventually comprise the 11-person board. (See 2 New ERCOT Directors Named, Replacing Current Board.)

“You’ve been much anticipated, both of you,” interim CEO Brad Jones told them. “ERCOT staff has long wanted this new board in place.”

Revamping ERCOT’s board, which previously consisted of five independent directors and eight market segment representatives, became one of the legislature’s top priorities after February’s winter storm drove the Texas Interconnection to the brink of collapse.

“I know I have a lot to learn, but I’m looking forward to working with all of you,” said Foster, who comes from an oil sector background.

“What brings us here is what we most fear: the small probability of an event that can have catastrophic consequences. That is what we have to prevent,” Aguilar said.

The board will meet later this month to consider voting items that were deferred Tuesday and to ratify the meeting minutes from the board’s previous 18 months of virtual meetings. The Finance and Audit and HR and Governance committees will meet before that while it waits for the other six members to be selected. (See Search Firm Chosen to Find New ERCOT Board Members.)

Jones, Public Utility Commission Chair Peter Lake and the Office of Public Utility Counsel’s Chris Ekoh also sit on the board, with only Ekoh allowed to vote.