Board of Directors

Smyth also oversees the management and all aspects of electric service for AEP’s transmission joint venture utility companies across the United States. Smyth most recently served as senior vice president of Grid Solutions, where he led the commercial development of new grid resources, including the corporation’s investments in large-scale electric generation projects, renewable energy projects, competitive transmission, energy storage, and emerging technologies. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of Transmission Ventures, Strategy and Policy, where he led transmission strategy, finance, commercial development activities, and federal regulatory and policy for AEP’s $30 billion electric transmission business. He has also held key leadership roles in the Strategic Initiatives organization, which is responsible for corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions, and in the Corporate Finance organization, which is responsible for debt and equity capital markets, rating agency activities, market risk, and balance sheet management for AEP’s parent and subsidiary utility companies.

Smyth serves as the chair of the board directors of the Reliability First Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio and is a member of the Compensation Committee. He also serves as a board member of Electric Transmission Texas, LLC, an electric infrastructure joint venture between AEP and Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Smyth is a trustee of the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio, and is the co-executive sponsor of AEP.’s Black Employee Resource Group and AEP’s Environmental and Social Justice Initiative. Smyth is a United States military veteran and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and master’s degree in applied economics from Ohio State University. He has completed the executive leadership program at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University and director certification through the National Association of Corporate Directors. He and his family reside in Columbus, Ohio.

Before assuming his current position in March 2024, Peeler served four years as Duke Energy’s senior vice president of transmission and fuels strategy and policy, managing fuel supply, system optimization, long-term transmission planning, and developing strategies and investment proposals. And from 2016 to 2020, Peeler served as the company’s chief transmission officer, overseeing the safe, reliable and efficient operation of Duke Energy’s electric transmission system.

Peeler has more than 35 years of experience in the energy industry. He joined Duke Energy in 1988 and has held a variety of leadership positions in power delivery, system planning and operations, performance support, engineering, construction, business planning, contract management, process improvement and training.

The Faith, N.C., native graduated from North Carolina State University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from Queens University. He is a registered professional engineer in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Peeler is a former board member of SERC Reliability Corporation and currently serves on the boards of directors of the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council and as board vice chair of Reliability First Corporation. He is a current board member and former board chair of the North American Transmission Forum and is a member and former chair of the Reliability Issues Steering Committee (RISC) for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Additionally, he is past president of the North Carolina State Engineering Foundation and a member of the N.C. State Electrical and Computer Engineering Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Lorie, have a son, daughter and three grandchildren.

Ambrose also engages in the utility technology industry through the UNITE Consortium, Edison Electric Institute’s CEO Executive Advisory and Security and Technology Committees. In addition to his technology responsibilities, Ambrose serves on DTE’s Project Management Excellence committee, NERC Executive committee, Financial Controls Assessment committee, Improving Customer Relationships committee and is the executive sponsor for the Asian and Middle Eastern American (AMEA) Employee Energy Group. Prior to his current role, Ambrose was director of Enterprise Performance Management where he was responsible for the oversight of corporate performance and served as the chief of staff to the CEO where he coordinated various corporate wide initiatives.

Ambrose joined DTE Energy in 1998 and served in a variety of progressively more responsible information technology (IT) roles including the oversight of the company’s enterprise business systems, the IT operations of DTE Energy’s non-utility affiliates and the stewardship of the company’s IT strategy and enterprise architecture. Ambrose engages in board service for Michigan’s entrepreneurial technology sector including the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator (MIBA), DTE’s joint venture Powerley and previously TechTown Detroit. In addition, he supports STEM education through board service with FIRST in Michigan (FIRST Robotics), United Way’s Tech United and the Michigan Science Center. Ambrose earned an MBA with high distinction from the University of Michigan, a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bellevue College. He also served in the United States Air Force earning the rank of Staff Sergeant and an honorable discharge.

In addition to her experience in the private sector, Mèlika has worked for national elected officials in Canada and the U.S.; has guest lectured at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University and The Washington Campus; and co-founded the Global Women’s Innovation Network, www.globalwin.org.

Mèlika holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and public administration from the University of Ottawa in Canada and a masters of European Affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

Chatterjee is well-noted for her vision on grid operations of the future that defines how the industry needs to transform the control room operations in response to the energy portfolio evolution. She is recognized as an international leader for her contributions to grid operations through CIGRE, a global organization committed to the creation and sharing of power systems expertise.

Chatterjee joined MISO in 2000, and has served in leadership positions within operations and markets and transmission planning. She was instrumental in the establishment and implementation of MISO’s reliability and market services.

At MISO, Chatterjee has led multiple strategic initiatives including wind integration, the development of seams agreements between MISO and its neighbors, resource adequacy reforms and, most recently, MISO’s reliability through significant weather events including Winter Storm Uri and Hurricanes Laura and Ida. Her knowledge and experience in the field of information technology enabled her to lead MISO’s application services division where she improved operational excellence through business services integration.

Chatterjee holds a doctorate degree in electrical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India.

Ms. Evancho has extensive experience in human capital planning, total rewards, talent management, and culture. Since joining EQT, her accomplishments include dramatically improving employee satisfaction scores, helping the company create its new values statement, and navigating the current “war on talent” through improvements in leadership capability and overhauling goals and reviews. Ms. Evancho previously served as the Vice President, Global Talent Management and Corporate Human Resources at Westinghouse Electric Company and prior to that she held a variety of human resource roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Rice Energy, and MSA Safety. Ms. Evancho holds a bachelor of science in human resources from Florida State University. Ms. Evancho also serves in leadership roles at Pittsburgh CLO, a nonprofit centered around the city’s performing arts community, while also participating in the diversity and inclusion and Covid-19 sub-committees.

Mr. Gallagher has held this position since the inception of ReliabilityFirst in January 2006, and he is a non-voting member of the ReliabilityFirst Board of Directors. Prior to joining ReliabilityFirst, Mr. Gallagher was a senior executive at GridAmerica, LLC, the nation’s first multi-system independent transmission company. His background is centered squarely in electric system reliability, having spent time on the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) staff where he was responsible for NERC’s compliance, standards, and reliability assessment programs. Before his tenure at NERC, Mr. Gallagher worked in the electric power industry in a variety of engineering and leadership positions in electric system planning, system protection and system operations. Mr. Gallagher is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ohio, a graduate of the GE Power Systems Engineering School, a former NERC-Certified System Operator, and was publicly elected to serve on the Governing Board of the Summit County Educational Service Center. He currently serves as a director on the board of Vantage Aging, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to support the needs of older adults wishing to age in place and live independently with dignity.

Prior to joining Buckeye Power, he worked for NRG Energy and Dayton Power & Light in a variety of positions related to energy marketing, electric system operations and natural gas system operations. Craig received an MBA from Otterbein University and a bachelor of science in engineering technology from the University of Dayton. He is a graduate of NRECA’s Management Internship Program and a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Craig currently serves on the board of directors for the National Renewables Cooperative Organization and is a member of NRECA’s National Resolutions Committee.

Prior to joining ITC in 2013, he worked at Entergy in operations, IT, NERC compliance and transmission and distribution substation maintenance areas. Mr. Gupta currently serves on the board of North American Transmission Forum (NATF).

Mr. Gupta earned a bachelor of engineering in electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India and a master of sciences in electrical engineering from Kansas State University. Mr. Gupta is a NERC certified system operator.

Scott began his utility career with FirstEnergy Service Company in 1998 on the IT Security team. He has held various leadership positions in IT Operations, Cyber Security and NERC CIP Compliance. During his tenure, Scott has led strategic efforts to implement both FirstEnergy’s network operations center (NOC) and integrated security operations center (SOC). Scott holds a bachelor of science degree in computer science and mathematics from Youngstown State University. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Scott is also an active participant in the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) Cybersecurity Program (P183), the Edison Electric Institute’s cybersecurity program efforts, the North American Transmission Forum’s (NATF) Security Practices Group.

Her expertise uniquely positions her to draw upon direct leadership experience in multiple industry sectors: Supplier, LSE, and RTO, as well as the state regulatory perspective as an active contributor on the RF Board. Joan may apply risk mitigation, transmission operations, compliance, and an understanding of FERC, NERC, and state retail regulatory frameworks to contribute strategic thought leadership.

Joan received a bachelor of electric engineering degree from the University of Dayton and holds a master of business administration from the University of Indianapolis. She currently serves as the board chair for the Community Foundation of Boone County.

Prior to joining Invenergy, Robert led transmission strategy at Exelon Utilities, led energy policy and programs with the Pennsylvania Governor’s Energy Office and was a Health Physicist in the nuclear power industry. Robert holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering technology from Thomas Edison State College and a master of public administration from the University of Missouri.

Mr. Trentacosta is also responsible for the overall development and maintenance of the SMECO’s security/compliance and safety programs, managing the operation of SMECO’s 24/7 customer care center, and directing the corporate credit and collections function. Mr. Trentacosta serves on the IT Program Advisory Council for both the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) and St. Mary’s County Public Schools. Most recently, he served as Board President for the Center for Children. He has also served on the Marcey House Advisory Board, the St. Mary’s County Human Services Council, the Father Andrew White School Advisory Board (Chairman), and the Calvert Career Center Local Advisory Council. Mr. Trentacosta holds an MBA in finance from New York University, a BS in information systems from Fordham University and is a graduate of the Leadership Maryland Class of 2011.