Blake Praises SERC Entities’ Summer Performance

Jason Blake, president and CEO of SERC | © RTO Insider LLC

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — At Thursday’s meeting of SERC Reliability’s Board of Directors, CEO Jason Blake — reflecting on the fact that it was the first day of fall — reminded attendees “to celebrate our successes” in maintaining grid reliability during a challenging summer.

“I think sometimes within this industry we’re really good at focusing on where we fall short and wanting to take lessons learned,” Blake said. “But if you look at this summer, it was a hard one. We had seasonal peaks coming in earlier than ever, and occurring more frequently: extreme heat, extreme weather generally, whether it be extreme flooding [or] tornadoes. … And the thing I’d really like to take note of is the way the operators in our footprint generally have performed throughout the season. I think it’s been very laudable what they [have] achieved.”

Blake also reminded board members — and those attending virtually — that the challenges facing the grid from the growing adoption of renewable energy, the effects of climate change, electrification of transport and other trends “are not lessening.” He said that SERC and the rest of the ERO Enterprise have an important role to play in educating regulators and policymakers on the relevant issues.

NERC CEO Jim Robb has been instrumental in helping organization the leadership of the regional entities to advance these goals, Blake said, citing a “truly unprecedented” amount of “information and dialogue in this space” over the last year through the ERO Executive Committee, a gathering of the CEOs from each RE to discuss high-level reliability issues. Blake told attendees how SERC has worked to expand this engagement by hosting more meetings for lower-level staff from other REs to discuss the problems they face every day.

“The key point to take away there is that there’s alignment; there’s an understanding. We understand the broader picture, and we’ve had a strong voice,” Blake said. “I can tell you with great appreciation that the SERC team has been actively engaged in these discussions and really coming up with some awesome ideas to help advance the broader ERO Enterprise. So that alignment is key to our success — we need a strong NERC, just like NERC needs a very strong SERC to be successful.”

More Independent Directors a Possibility

SERC’s Nominating and Governance Committee is preparing to begin the process that could lead to a search for new independent directors, Chair Tim Lyons told directors on Thursday. The three independent directors currently serving on the board — Shirley Bloomfield, Lonni Dieck and Deborah Wheeler — are SERC’s first, having joined in 2021 after the RE implemented new bylaws in 2020 that required at least three, and no more than five, independent directors. (See SERC Appoints 1st Independent Board Members.)

Lyons said the committee is currently considering “whether … we are lacking skillsets on the board” that a fresh director could add. Areas of expertise that could be sought by the committee include the natural gas system, battery technology and human resources, along with “various other topics.”

The committee will first develop surveys — one for “stakeholder directors,” one for the current independent directors, and one for SERC’s leadership team — to determine the organization’s views on what skills might be needed. Lyons said the surveys should be sent out within the next six weeks, which would ensure enough time for respondents to return them and for results to be available by the next board meeting in December.

Board Chair Todd Hillman called for a “robust discussion” during the selection process for new directors, which Lyons said would likely take more than a year.

“As you all know, we [won] the lottery with our first set of independent directors,” Hillman said. “We want to continue to have the level of quality, insight and experience, and so we want to go into that conversation knowing full well that that quality is going to stay high.”

Strategic Plan Approved

The sole approval item at Thursday’s meeting was SERC’s long-term strategic plan, which the organization created to outline its contribution to fulfilling the goals of the ERO Enterprise Long-term Strategy. Members voted unanimously to approve the document.

The plan identified three key focus areas, according to which SERC should strive to be a:

• credible and trusted expert organization;
• leader in reliability and security across the industry; and
• highly desirable place to work for all.

Jeni Belew, a senior program manager for strategic development at SERC who introduced the strategic plan, explained that to support the first area, the RE will “provide growth and development opportunities so that our talent is equipped to tackle the challenges facing the evolving electric grid,” along with “gold standard training opportunities [including] continuing education hours” and other credits that can encourage industry stakeholders to see SERC as a valuable source of expertise.

SERC’s Brian Thumm and Jeni Belew presenting the organization’s strategic plan. | © RTO Insider LLC

 

Belew explained that the second area requires building out SERC’s communications ability so that, as policymakers, regulators and other stakeholders learn of its expertise, it can deliver the information they need. To become a desirable place to work, the organization will “continue focusing on our culture and environment … to prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion and allyship … so that everyone finds purpose and value in the work that they do.”

SERC’s next board meeting is scheduled for Dec. 14 in Charlotte.