ISO-NE has elected former Department of Energy official Melvin Williams Jr. as a board member, the grid operator announced on Thursday.

Board Chair Cheryl LaFleur was also re-elected to a second term on the board.

Williams and LaFleur will start their new terms on Oct. 1, as Directors Barney Rush and Vickie VanZandt retire. The board is going back to 10 members after it was temporarily expanded to 11 in 2021 to “capitalize on a trio of highly qualified candidates,” ISO-NE said.

Williams served in the Navy as a submarine and fleet commander, ultimately ending his military career as a vice admiral. During the Obama administration, he was appointed associate deputy secretary of energy. Since leaving government, he has been working in academia at institutions including University of California Davis, George Washington University and most recently Catholic University, where he is associate dean of engineering.

LaFleur, a former FERC commissioner and chair, has been on ISO-NE’s board since 2019 and its chair since 2021.

“The election of Mel and re-election of Cheryl will continue the region on its transition to a clean energy future,” ISO-NE CEO Gordon van Welie said in a statement. “Their breadth of experience in energy, government, academia and beyond will serve all New Englanders well.”

ISO-NE board members are chosen by the existing board and approved by the NEPOOL Participants Committee, in a process which has been criticized for its opacity. (See ISO-NE, States Seek to Build on ‘Alignment’ Efforts.)