ReliabilityFirst Board of Directors elects three new members, including a new independent director, and re-elects two directors

The ReliabilityFirst (RF) Board of Directors elected three new directors and re-elected two current directors on July 30.

Beginning immediately

New Independent Director Mèlika Carroll and new At-Large Director Robert Taylor begin their terms immediately.

Public policy, load growth due to artificial intelligence (AI), data centers and other technology, and the changing resource mix are three of the key risks to today’s electric grid, so the addition of experts in these areas to RF’s board helps position the organization to better address them.

Carroll is head of global government affairs and public policy for Cohere, an artificial intelligence platform designed for businesses. Prior to joining Cohere, she built and led Sonder’s corporate affairs functions as a member of the senior leadership team that took the company public on Nasdaq. Earlier in her career, Carroll led the public policy strategy for several Fortune 500 technology companies including Intel, Micron, HP and Salesforce, facilitating dialogue with key policymakers in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

In addition to her experience in the private sector, Carroll has worked for 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. Carroll holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and public administration from the University of Ottawa in Canada and a master’s degree in European affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

Taylor is vice president of transmission new markets for Invenergy, a leading privately held developer, owner, and operator of sustainable energy solutions. Taylor leads Invenergy’s transmission market development, business model innovation, early-stage project development efforts and partnerships with utilities, regions, state and local governments and vendors to develop and advance innovative projects that benefit communities and customers.

Prior to joining Invenergy, Taylor 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. Taylor holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering technology from Thomas Edison State College and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Missouri.

Starting 2025

Additionally, as the RTO Sector seat on the board rotates from PJM to MISO, Renuka Chatterjee was elected to replace Ken Seiler, with her term set to begin in 2025.

Chatterjee is vice president operations at Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), overseeing functions that ensure efficient and reliable grid operations. She leads all aspects of system operations, operational planning and market operations, including market settlements. Chatterjee 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 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.

Re-elections

Nelson Peeler and Scott Hipkins were also re-elected as Transmission Sector representatives on the board. Their new terms will each run from 2025-2027.

Peeler, who is currently the vice chair of RF’s Board of Directors, serves as Duke Energy’s senior vice president of grid strategy, planning and integration. He leads the organization responsible for long-term grid planning including energy storage; transmission and renewables planning and integration; transmission planning and operations strategy; grid solutions development; and strategic projects.

Hipkins is the vice president, cyber security, and chief information security officer (CISO) at FirstEnergy. His responsibilities include cyber security policy, governance, training, protections, controls, incident response and monitoring.