Former state regulator Mark Vannoy is joining ISO-NE’s Board of Directors — much to the annoyance of consumer advocates, who say his tenure at the Maine Public Utilities Commission was marked by opposition to clean energy development and energy efficiency and indifference to consumers.

Vannoy, who joined the PUC in 2012 and served as chair from 2014 to early 2019, is now vice president of Maine Water. ISO-NE announced Friday that Vannoy was elected to the RTO’s 10-member board on a slate with incumbent Directors Brook Colangelo, who was elected to his second term, and Roberto Denis, who will begin his third and final term. The slate was approved by the RTO’s board last week, following its endorsement by the New England Power Pool Participants Committee on Sept. 3. Vannoy’s three-year term begins Oct. 1.

Vannoy emerged as the replacement for retiring board member Christopher Wilson following a confidential nominating process that some stakeholders now want to change.

Vannoy was nominated by the Joint Nominating Committee (JNC), a panel comprising seven current board members, NEPOOL’s six sector leaders and New Hampshire Public Utilities Commissioner Michael Giaimo, representing the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners (NECPUC).

Although the JNC approved the slate unanimously, stakeholders told RTO Insider that the leaders of NEPOOL’s End User and Alternative Resources sectors attempted to withdraw their support for Vannoy after hearing negative feedback from their sector members. Doug Hurley, head of the AR sector, and Michael Macrae, head of the End User sector, did not respond to requests for comment.

Under RTO rules, the sector leaders were not permitted to identify Vannoy until after the JNC voted. The names of Vannoy and the other members of the slate were submitted to the Participants Committee in late August in advance of the Sept. 3 vote, which required 70% support for endorsement.

Disgruntled stakeholders say Vannoy’s selection highlighted two problems with the nominating process: the secrecy that resulted in the two sector leaders endorsing a candidate widely opposed by their caucuses, and the inability to vote on candidates individually.

Nancy Chafetz, chair of the Participants Committee, confirmed Monday via email that “a number of members suggested potential enhancements to the nominating process.”

“Based on the discussions, the NEPOOL members of the JNC committed to explore the suggestions with the full JNC when the process for the next slate got underway in the late fall,” Chafetz said.

Vannoy, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a 20-year Navy veteran, holds a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University. He did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

In a statement released by ISO-NE, Vannoy said he was honored to join the board “during this pivotal time for the energy industry, the environment and those looking to the ISO for reliable, affordable and increasingly cleaner energy.”

An appointee of controversial former Gov. Paul LePage, Vannoy angered consumer advocates and clean energy developers in several instances, according to Andrew Landry, Maine’s deputy public advocate, and others:

• An investigation of a competitive energy supplier that Landry says “languished” for two years under Vannoy.
• Excluding customers and consumer advocates from an investigation of billing errors by Central Maine Power (CMP).
• A 20% cut in funding of the Efficiency Maine Trust, which administers programs to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases.
• A “gross metering” program that Vannoy agreed to reverse for nonresidential solar customers after criticism in 2018.

“I think that his record is one that has been problematic for clean energy advocates and for clean energy market participants,” said Deborah Donovan, senior policy advocate and Massachusetts director for Acadia Center, which promotes solutions to climate change. “But we very much hope that his function as a board member will not track to that, and we’re looking forward to working with him and all the members of the board.

“I think that the part of the conversation that we need to have at NEPOOL is about whether some of the confidentiality requirements are hindering a more transparent conversation for things like board nominations,” Donovan continued. “There’s just so much at stake right now, not just with who’s on the board, but other very significant policies and discussions that could impact how state policies are expressing their climate change and clean energy goals, for example.”

Donovan said that she would like to see future board candidates reflect more ethnic, gender and racial diversity.

“Where we’re at right now is just trying to move forward in a way that can expand the scope of what board members are evaluated on and ensure that values beyond the ones that were weighed for Mark’s candidacy are included in future vetting processes,” she said.

Landry said, “There’s a problem with the ISO nominating process where there’s no vetting of the candidates from stakeholders, other than the Nominating Committee before you’re forced to vote, and then you’re forced to vote [on] a panel.”

Vannoy is “very intelligent … and he’s well liked,” Landry said. “I think we had concerns he was being postured as being a representative of consumer interests. Not that a board member should be an advocate for consumer interests. … You have people on the board who were former generation industry people or transmission industry people, and I think it’d be useful to have somebody on the board who was previously engaged in consumer advocacy, and I guess we don’t view being a member of a regulatory commission as being synonymous with that because they’ve got to balance the interests of all the parties.”

One stakeholder who asked not to be identified said the issue of slate voting, which has been raised in past years, is particularly acute now. “This is an important position. … If I were being interviewed for a job, I wouldn’t expect to be voted on as part of a panel.”

The stakeholder also said the confidential nature of the process was problematic. “I certainly understand why discretion is important, but if we’re to continue the way we are going now, [the late opposition to Vannoy] could happen again. It’s unfortunate for the candidates, unfortunate for the Nominating Committee and unfortunate for NEPOOL members. This is their moment to raise objections. But if you can’t stop the process, why are we even doing it? What I witnessed was clearly a process that did not function.”

“I think the slate-voting issue concerns a lot of people,” said a second stakeholder who requested anonymity. “People want to be able to vote for the board member.”

The stakeholder said winning changes on the confidentiality of the nominating process was more likely, however. “Getting ISO-NE to change the three-person slate is going to be really difficult,” the stakeholder said.

The nominating rules are contained in the Participants Agreement (PA) between ISO-NE and NEPOOL, and changes to these rules can be made with the consent of both, according to Janine Saunders, the RTO’s corporate communications manager.

“Confidentiality rules are not a part of the PA but are a requirement of the search process,” Saunders said in an email. “Most prospective candidates do not wish to have their identities publicly revealed for privacy reasons. As a result, members of the JNC sign a confidentiality agreement. A nationally recognized executive search firm then presents potential candidates to the JNC, and those candidates can have confidence in their anonymity during the early selection process.”

Praise from ISO-NE, States

Calpine’s Brett Kruse said in an interview Monday that his company supported Vannoy’s appointment even though he voted for CMP’s New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line, which Calpine fought.

Kruse said state regulators rarely have strong energy backgrounds when they begin their service. “What you’re looking for are smart, open-minded curious thinkers. Mark was that kind of guy. For me, those are the same kind of attributes that you want a board member to have.”

ISO-NE board Chair Kathleen Abernathy said in a statement that Vannoy’s background as chair of the Maine PUC, “where he was entrusted with protecting Maine consumers, ensures Mark will bring unique experiences and perspectives to the board.”

She noted that his candidacy was also supported by regulators from all six New England states, who sent letters of endorsement to the JNC.

Maine’s three current commissioners praised Vannoy’s “strong advocacy for Maine ratepayers.”

“We believe you have selected a great candidate,” Giaimo and New Hampshire’s other two commissioners said in a letter to the JNC. “Beyond his technical and engineering skills, Mr. Vannoy has a tremendous understanding of the regional markets and is well versed in system operation and planning.”

The New Hampshire commission thanked the JNC for “prioritizing NECPUC’s concern that the next ISO board director have state regulatory experience to provide focus on consumer costs.”

ISO-NE CEO Gordon van Welie praised Vannoy’s “wealth of first-hand knowledge of the many perspectives that exist around planning for New England’s energy future.”

“This, combined with his expertise in critical infrastructure planning, security and management, will strengthen the ISO’s decision-making,” he added.

Landry said Vannoy is “well qualified” for the board.

“I don’t have any problem with him personally being on the board,” he said. “My problem is I think the ISO is patting itself on the back now [that] they’ve got somebody with this experience on the board. In our view, he doesn’t fit the bill of having been the representative of consumer interests.”