MISO’s membership has reelected three incumbents to the Board of Directors, eschewing an opportunity to introduce new faces.
Directors Nancy Lange, Mark Johnson and Phyllis Currie were up for reelection this year. They will begin their new three-year terms on Jan. 1.
Currie and Johnson joined the board in 2016 and were reelected in 2019. Lange was elected to the board after some controversy in 2018 because of her immediate past position as chair of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. (See MISO Elects Lange to Board; Keeps 2 Incumbents.)
“These experienced industry leaders will continue to guide us toward implementing the changes needed to meet the reliability imperative,” MISO CEO John Bear said in a press release. “The expertise and institutional knowledge of our returning directors will be instrumental to helping us manage some of the issues facing our industry. Their diverse backgrounds and understanding of our organizational goals will help accelerate our plans for the future.”
MISO’s reliability imperative refers to its commitment to plan and make changes to maintain reliability as the resource mix shifts toward clean energy.
The board consists of nine independent directors and its CEO. Directors are limited to serving three, three-year terms.
Despite MISO retaining search firm Russell Reynolds and interviewing a slate of 20 non-incumbent candidates, the Nominating Committee decided against introducing any new members to the board. The committee was comprised of MISO directors and stakeholders Stacy Herbert, representing transmission owners, and Indiana Utility Regulatory Commissioner Sarah Freeman.
MISO’s month-long board elections require a minimum 25% participation rate among its nearly 140 voting-eligible members to achieve quorum. Members can vote for, against or abstain from selecting any of the candidates. Candidates must earn a majority of quorum votes to be installed.
Board members also voted unanimously in September to elect Todd Raba as board chair. He will replace current chair Currie in January.
“This is the only professional engagement I have, so I look forward to dedicating all of my professional attention to this,” Raba said during MISO’s September Board Week. Raba was previously CEO of GridPoint and Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy and Johns Manville companies.
The board will meet next in Orlando, Fla., Dec. 7-9, marking MISO’s first in-person public meetings since the coronavirus pandemic spread in early 2020.
