By Christen Smith
PJM’s year of high turnover continued this week with the departure of Vince Duane, the RTO’s senior vice president and general counsel.
PJM announced Duane’s resignation, effective immediately, via email Monday. In the release, the RTO said Duane will seek other opportunities after more than 16 years with the organization.
“We are grateful to Vince for his many contributions to PJM and its stakeholders over the past 16 years,” interim CEO Susan Riley said in a statement. “As a member of the PJM Board of Managers, I worked with Vince from the time I joined the board and have enormous respect for his legal perspective. The entire PJM community thanks Vince for his many contributions to PJM.”
Deputy General Counsel Chris O’Hara will assume the role of vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary with responsibility for law and compliance, effective immediately, PJM said.
“It has been my honor and privilege to serve PJM’s employees and members for more than 16 years,” Duane said. “I am proud to have been part of such an outstanding team doing extremely important work, and I know PJM will continue to forge ahead with innovation, integrity and outstanding service to its members.”
Susan Buehler, PJM spokesperson, didn’t elaborate much further on Duane’s departure, except to say that it “was purely his decision” and that he was ready to move on and “do something else.”
Duane is the fourth top executive to leave PJM this year, following the resignations of CEO Andy Ott, CFO Suzanne Daugherty and Vice President Denise Foster. In September, Riley announced the restructuring of the State and Member Services Division, previously led by Foster and now headed by Jen Tribulski, senior director of member services, and Asim Haque, executive director of strategic policy and external affairs.
Several key leaders within PJM also received promotions over the summer, announced at the time of Ott’s resignation. (See CEO Andy Ott to Retire.) The organization also hired Nigeria Poole Bloczynski as its first chief risk officer in July and hopes to choose a new CEO before the end of the year. (See PJM Names Chief Risk Officer and “CEO Search Continues,” PJM MRC Briefs: Sept. 26, 2019.)
