EIPC Planning Authorities Elect New Officers

RENSSELAER, NY (01/05/2016)(readMedia)-- The electric system Planning Authorities that formed the Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC) today announced the election of Tim Ponseti, Vice President, Transmission Operations & Power Supply for the Tennessee Valley Authority, to be the Chairman of the EIPC Executive Committee for 2016. Michael J. Kormos, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for PJM Interconnection, was elected to serve as Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee.

The EIPC is an organization formed by Eastern Interconnection Planning Authorities to perform interconnection-wide transmission analysis. The EIPC has successfully completed a U.S. Department of Energy-funded analysis of the electric transmission system in eastern North America looking 20 years into the future, as well as an analysis of the interface between the electric transmission system and the natural gas delivery system. The EIPC also develops transmission system models of combined regional transmission plans and performs scenario analysis on those combined models to identify stress points on the system and identify gaps in the combined plans. The Executive Committee provides strategic leadership to EIPC's continuing studies.

"I look forward to the opportunity to continue EIPC's progress and success during the upcoming year," said Ponseti. "The past few years have been exceptionally productive for the EIPC. The entire membership and former President and CEO of the New York Independent System Operator Steve Whitley, who recently retired as chair of the executive committee, are to be commended for their accomplishments."

Ponseti is currently the Vice President of Transmission Operations & Power Supply (TOPS) for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Ponseti began his career in 1985 with Louisiana Power & Light Co, a subsidiary of Entergy. Over the next 18 years, Ponseti held a variety of positions in Entergy's operations, planning, major accounts, and customer service departments. From 1997–2003 he served as the site manager for Entergy's System Operations Center. He joined TVA in 2003 as the General Manager of Transmission Policy, and later held a variety of senior positions in transmission operations and system planning before becoming the VP of TOPS in 2013. Over the past 12 years, Ponseti has served on numerous SERC Reliability Corporation and North American Electric Reliability Corporation committees, including chair of the SERC Engineering Committee from 2006-2008 and as a member of the original NERC Functional Model team. He is currently the Vice-Chair of the SERC Reliability Corporation Board of Directors.

Kormos is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for PJM. Previously, Kormos was the executive vice president – Operations, responsible for all services that touch reliability. Kormos also has served in various senior management and engineering positions. He is on the Board of Directors for the Eastern Interconnection Data Sharing Network. He was a member of the Operating Committee for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the Board of Directors for the ReliabilityFirst Corporation and the Industry Leaders Council for the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions.

About the EIPC

Formed under an agreement by 19 planning authorities from the Eastern United States and Canada, the EIPC has developed a "bottom-up" approach to transmission planning, starting with a roll-up of the existing grid expansion plans of electric system planning authorities in the Eastern Interconnection. The EIPC membership includes Alcoa Power Generating, Inc.; Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Florida, and Duke Energy Progress; Louisville Gas & Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company; Florida Power & Light Company; Georgia Transmission Corporation (An Electric Membership Corporation); ISO New England, Inc.; JEA; Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.; Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia; New York Independent System Operator, Inc.; PJM Interconnection; PowerSouth Energy Cooperative; South Carolina Electric & Gas Company; South Carolina Public Service Authority; Southern Company Services Inc., as agent for Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, Gulf Power Company, and Mississippi Power Company; Southwest Power Pool, Inc.; and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

For more information, visit eipconline.com.

Contact: David Whiteley

EIPC Executive Director

d.a.whiteley@att.net

314-753-6200