MISO CEO John Bear will helm two international energy industry associations this year, the grid operator said Thursday.

The RTO said that Bear was appointed chair of the ISO/RTO Council (IRC) and also elected president of GO15, an international association of 15 grid operators that collectively manage more than half the world’s electricity demand.

Bear succeeds Stefano Donnarumma, CEO of Terna, Italy’s national transmission service operator, at GO15 and CAISO CEO Elliot Mainzer at IRC. The council includes representatives from the seven U.S. and two Canadian system operators. The IRC chair’s role rotates annually among current IRC Board members.

“There is a need for continued collaboration and idea sharing when it comes to operating the power grid and planning for the future,” Bear said in a press release. “Our collective problem solving enables us to keep the power flowing reliably and efficiently. That’s true whether we are working locally, regionally, nationally or even globally.”

Bear said he will focus on “major strategic and technical issues” affecting power systems during his GO15 term, including grid decarbonization and digitalization and the resilience of electricity infrastructure.