Frye named WECC president, CEO

Melanie M. Frye was recently selected by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council’s (WECC) as the council’s new president and chief executive officer.

The Council’s Board of Directors announced the selection, noting Frye joined WECC in 2007 and most recently served as Vice President of Reliability Planning and Performance Analysis.

She replaces Jim Robb, stepped down to assume the role of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) president and CEO.

“Choosing a CEO is one of the Board’s most important responsibilities and one the full Board actively participated,” WECC Board Chair Kristine Hafner said. “After an extensive nationwide search with outreach across the broad stakeholder community and among industry leaders nationwide, we unanimously agreed to offer the position to Melanie Frye with full confidence in her ability to lead WECC in the years ahead. Her in-depth knowledge of the critical issues unfolding in the West, her extensive experience developing and leading important WECC reliability assurance services and her deep understanding of WECC’s regulatory mandate all contributed to her selection from a pool of highly qualified candidates.”

The Board said in addition to her responsibilities for WECC’s technical and analysis functions, Frye spear-headed and co-authored WECC’s Strategic and Operational Planning Process that ensured alignment with the ERO Enterprise Long-Term Strategy and while a member of the executive team, created the framework for WECC’s Invented Future and shaped the transformation within the organization.

“I am honored to have been selected by the Board to lead WECC,” Frye said. “My years of experience, combined with my industry background, has prepared me for this leadership role in one of the most complex footprints within the ERO Enterprise. I plan to pursue WECC’s important reliability and security mission by actively listening to and understanding the realities experienced by members and stakeholders working toward the same goal.”