ISO-NE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Chief External Affairs and Communications Officer
As vice president, chief external affairs and communications officer, Anne C. George directs ISO New England's outreach to public officials, stakeholders, and the media. In this role, George is responsible for developing and executing the company's communications strategy and leading state and federal policy activity. Before joining the ISO in 2008, she served five years as a commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control. During this time, George was active in national and regional bodies, serving as chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' Committee on Electricity and as president of the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners. Prior to her role at the Connecticut DPUC, George served as the governor's special counsel on energy and chief legal counsel.
Job Titles:
- Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Waters Corp
Brook M. Colangelo is vice president and chief information officer for Waters Corp., the world's leading specialty measurement company serving the life, materials, and food sciences industries for more than 60 years. Colangelo is responsible for driving global IT and digital business transformation. He previously served as executive vice president and first-ever chief technology officer for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), one of world's leading education companies. There, he led the transformation of the company's online teaching and learning platform. Before HMH, he served as chief information officer of the White House under President Barack Obama, responsible for modernizing, securing, and managing all aspects of the technology platforms and infrastructure supporting the first-ever digitally connected president of the United States. Earlier in his career, he led technology for the American Red Cross's Hurricane Recovery Program. Colangelo is a founding member of the Boston Chief Information Officer Council and is a graduate of The George Washington University.
Caren Anders is a transmission expert who previously served as an executive advisor for Quanta Technology, where she worked with clients across the utility sector providing advisory solutions and services. Her career has included leading Duke Energy's transmission organization, overseeing 2,100 employees responsible for serving 7 million customers. Prior to joining Duke, Anders was vice president of transmission and substations at Exelon. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from Drexel University. She is a National Association of Corporate Directors certified director.
Job Titles:
- President of Private Investing at X Machina Capital Strategies
Catherine Flax is the president of private investing at X Machina Capital Strategies, focusing on investments related to energy transition in the oil and gas arena. She is an economist who has worked as a senior executive in the energy, power, and commodities businesses for several investment banks. During her career, Flax has served as global head of commodity finance at J.P. Morgan and managing director and head of commodities for the Americas at BNP Paribas. She has also served on a range of industry and corporate boards, as well as on advisory boards. Flax has a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and finance from Texas A&M University and a master's degree in economics from Brown University.
Cheryl LaFleur joined the ISO New England Board in 2019 and was named chair in 2021. She is a former commissioner and chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), having been nominated by President Barack Obama in 2010 and confirmed by the Senate for a second term in 2014. Before her FERC tenure, LaFleur served as executive vice president and acting CEO at National Grid USA. She held other executive positions at National Grid USA, and its predecessor, New England Electric System, including chief operating officer, president of the New England Distribution Companies, and general counsel. She began her career as an attorney at Ropes and Gray in Boston. Currently, LaFleur serves on the advisory boards of the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She has a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University. She has a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University.
Craig Ivey joined the ISO New England Board in 2023. He served as president of Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. for nine years, retiring in 2017. While in this role, he was responsible for all aspects of the electric system that serves over 9 million New Yorkers. Ivey previously spent 25 years at Dominion Energy, rising through the ranks from a part-time position during his college years to become senior vice president of transmission and distribution. He serves on the board for Ameren Corporation, as well as the Fresh Air Fund, a nonprofit serving children in low-income communities in New York City. Ivey has a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of System Planning
Dr. Robert Ethier serves as vice president of system planning. He oversees ISO New England's regional and interregional planning process, including development of the biennial Regional System Plan, analysis of new transmission and generation projects for New England, implementation of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission‑approved generator interconnection process, development of ISO findings for Transmission Cost Allocation, the execution of regional economic planning studies requested by stakeholders, and operation and support of the Forward Capacity Market in New England. Ethier previously served as vice president of market operations, vice president of market development, director of resource adequacy, and director of market monitoring. He also led the ISO's efforts to implement the initial Forward Capacity Auction. Prior to joining ISO New England, Ethier consulted for Stratus Consulting Inc. and Hagler Bailly Consulting Inc. He has authored papers on electricity price volatility, electricity auctions, and asset valuation, including papers in The Energy Journal, Land Economics, and the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Executive Vice President
- Member of the Corporate Officers Team
Dr. Vamsi Chadalavada, executive vice president and chief operating officer, is responsible for power system and market operations, markets development, system planning, information and cybersecurity services, and program management. He previously served as the company's senior vice president for market and system solutions. Before joining ISO New England in 2004, Chadalavada held a number of positions at Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution LLC, most recently vice president and general manager of Energy Management and Information Systems (EMIS). In that position, he held the profit and loss responsibility for the division and was responsible for sales and marketing, product development, project delivery, and support services for EMIS in North America and select regions in Europe, Asia, and South America. He has a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Iowa State University.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Corporate Officers Team
- President
Gordon van Welie is president and CEO of ISO New England Inc., having previously served as the company's executive vice president and chief operating officer. He joined ISO New England from Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution LLC, where he served as vice president and general manager of the Power Systems Control Division and was responsible for managing information technology solutions for electric companies. Before coming to Siemens, van Welie held several positions at Eskom, South Africa's electric utility based in Johannesburg. He has been a member of the National Academy of Engineering since 2017, and currently serves on the National Academies' Board on Energy and Environmental Systems. In addition, van Welie belongs to the Executive Committee of the US National Committee of the International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE), the Member Representatives Committee of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the ISO/RTO Council, and the IEEE Power & Engineering Society. He is the recipient of the 2024 Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG) Excellence Award, the 2023 Attwood Associates Award for ongoing contributions to CIGRE and its US National Committee, the 2017 Utility Variable-Generation Integration Achievement Award, and the 2016 IEEE Power & Energy Society Leadership in Power Award.
Maria Gulluni - Chief Legal Officer, Secretary, VP
Job Titles:
- Corporate Counsel
- Corporate Secretary
- Vice President
- Principal Legal Advisor for ISO New England and Is Responsible
As vice president, corporate counsel, and corporate secretary, Maria Gulluni is the principal legal advisor for ISO New England and is responsible for the company's work with FERC and the ISO's Board of Directors. She joined the ISO in 2000 as senior counsel and was subsequently promoted to assistant general counsel, then deputy general counsel. Gulluni began her legal career as an associate in the corporate department at Shipman & Goodwin in Hartford, Connecticut, where she focused on mergers, acquisitions, and corporate transactions. She is a member of the board of directors of the YMCA of Greater Springfield.
Mark Vannoy is president of Maine Water, having joined that company in 2019 as vice president after serving on the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for seven years. During his tenure at the Maine PUC, which included serving four years as chairman, Vannoy adjudicated more than 2,200 cases involving electric, gas, and water utilities. He also served as a board member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, a member of the Critical Infrastructure and Water Committees, and board chair of the New England Utility Cybersecurity Information Collaborative. Vannoy proudly served in the US military for 20 years and is a retired US Navy officer. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and has a master's degree in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University.
Job Titles:
- ISO 's Chief Economist and Vice President of Market Development
Matthew White is the ISO's chief economist and vice president of market development and settlements. His responsibilities include management and oversight of the design, development, performance, and settlement of the ISO's multibillion-dollar suite of competitive electricity markets. Prior to joining the ISO in 2010, White held faculty appointments at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, where he received numerous teaching awards for his insights on how markets work. His public service includes senior economist appointments at the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the US Federal Trade Commission, and as a Technology Advisory Committee member to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. White received his PhD in economics and Master of Arts degree in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Joining the ISO Board in 2022, Melvin G. "Mel" Williams, Jr. is a former US Navy nuclear-trained submariner who held positions in command of a submarine, a submarine squadron, a submarine group, and a fleet, completing his service as a vice admiral. One of his four flag officer assignments was director of global operations at US Strategic Command, where his responsibilities included the nuclear, space, and cyberspace missions. As a presidential appointee in the Obama administration, Williams served at the US Department of Energy as the associate deputy secretary of energy, where he was responsible for day-to-day management and operational excellence. Williams recently concluded a decade working in academia, including serving as the associate dean of engineering at the Catholic University of America. Prior to this, he held the positions of associate provost at The George Washington University and research nuclear reactor consultant at the University of California, Davis. Williams has a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the United States Naval Academy, a Master of Science degree in engineering management from the Catholic University of America, and a certificate in national and international security from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Michael J. Curran joined the ISO New England Board in 2019. Curran spent the majority of his career in the financial services and investment community, including the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc., where he was chairman and CEO. Before joining the Boston Stock Exchange, he was managing director and chief operating officer of Kemper funds and international mutual funds for Zurich Scudder Investments. Curran most recently was chair of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) Board of Directors. He is a graduate of Dickinson College.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Corporate Officers Team
- Vice President of System Operation and Market Administration
As vice president of system operation and market administration, Peter T. Brandien is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the New England bulk power system and ensuring the fair administration of the region's wholesale electricity markets. This includes the Day-Ahead Energy, Real-Time Energy, Reserve, and Regulation markets, the Financial Transmission Rights and Forward Reserve Market auctions, transmission and generation outage coordination, system restoration, operator training, NERC/Northeast Power Coordinating Council compliance, and development of operating procedures. Additional responsibilities include the registration, auditing, and verification of performance for demand and generating resources. Prior to joining ISO New England, Brandien was an employee of Northeast Utilities for 17 years, where he held various management positions in transmission engineering, operations, and planning. Prior to that, he served in the US Navy Submarine Force, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.
Robert C. Ludlow is vice president and chief financial and compliance officer. He serves on the company's Audit and Finance Committee as well as the Budget and Finance Committee of the New England Power Pool. Ludlow, a certified public accountant, has four decades of experience in the energy and accounting fields. He came to ISO New England at its inception in 1997. Prior to that, he worked in various public accounting and private company accounting roles, mostly in the metropolitan New York area.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Rudy" Pawul
As vice president of information and cybersecurity services, Rudolf "Rudy" Pawul is responsible for ISO New England's information technology (IT) functions. Pawul came to the ISO in 1999 as a system administrator, joining the company at the same time the region's first wholesale power markets were launched. In his tenure, he has held a variety of roles of increasing scope and responsibility, including manager of system support and IT director for infrastructure and enterprise support. Most recently, as IT director of development of power system support, he was in charge of the 24/7 energy management and markets systems for New England.
Job Titles:
- Principal and Owner of Strategies for Clean Energy Innovation
Steve Corneli is principal and owner of Strategies for Clean Energy Innovation, focusing on the efficient deployment of high levels of clean resources. His clients have included leading energy and environmental think tanks, distributed energy technology companies, and clean energy and environmental advocates. Prior to forming Strategies for Clean Energy Innovation, Corneli was senior vice president of policy, strategy, and sustainability at NRG. He previously served seven years as a consumer advocate within the Minnesota attorney general's office. Corneli has a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute, with a concentration in energy, environment, and technology policy.