By Jason Fordney
NERC said Friday that it has appointed Western Electricity Coordinating Council chief Jim Robb as its new president and CEO, effective April 9.
Robb, who has led WECC since 2014, has more than 30 years of experience as a power sector engineer, consultant and senior executive. He formerly served in senior roles at both Northeast Utilities (now Eversource Energy) and Reliant Energy.
“The board took this duty very seriously by engaging in a comprehensive, nationwide search culminating in the unanimous selection of Jim Robb,” NERC Board of Trustees Chairman Roy Thilly said in a statement. “We are confident that Jim will provide the combination of strong leadership, vision and commitment to the reliability and security of the bulk power system across North America that is essential to NERC’s continuing success.”
NERC has been without a CEO since Gerry Cauley stepped down last November after being arrested for allegedly assaulting his estranged wife, who told police he had been involved in a sexual relationship with a female employee at the agency. (See Cauley Resigns; NERC Launches Search for Replacement.)
Cauley had served as NERC CEO since January 2010 and was often the face of the reliability agency in hearings before FERC and Congress. NERC General Counsel Charles Berardesco has been serving as acting CEO.
As head of WECC, Robb led NERC’s largest Regional Entity, “where he improved member relations, strengthened the management team and expanded collaboration with NERC and other Regional Entities,” NERC said. WECC’s territory covers all or part of 14 Western states, Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, and the northern portion of Baja California in Mexico.
“I have been fortunate to lead WECC and be a part of the NERC-enterprise family for the past four years, and I look forward to the next chapter of my career leading the” FERC-certified Electric Reliability Organization, Robb said. “This experience, combined with my past industry knowledge, has prepared me for this exciting opportunity at NERC.”
WECC said it will search for a replacement for Robb over the next several months. It has appointed Vice President and General Counsel Steven Goodwill as interim CEO. Goodwill is not a candidate for the top job.
In a written statement, WECC Board of Directors Chair Kristine Hafner said Robb’s “unrelenting focus on effectively and efficiently reducing risks to the reliability and security of the bulk power system in the Western Interconnection has been vital to the 80 million people within our footprint who rely on power for their day-to-day lives.”
Salt Lake City-based WECC is in the midst of revamping its operations following its 2014 restructuring into the current WECC and Vancouver, Wash.-based Peak Reliability. (See WECC Finding New Direction in Old Mission.) Among the changes in the works to refocus the RE on its reliability functions is a renaming to Reliability West. Other changes in the organization’s bylaws are proposed for a possible June vote by WECC members.