PJM board promotes new senior vice president, chief information officer

The PJM board of managers has promoted Thomas O’Brien to senior vice president and chief information officer. O’Brien previously was vice president and chief information officer.

“Now more than ever our industry needs visionary leadership around information technology,” said Andrew Ott, president and CEO. “Tom’s knowledge and leadership of PJM‘s information technology, security and resilience vision and strategy has been a real asset.

“His promotion clearly reflects his growth and leadership in the organization and the industry,” Ott said.

O’Brien is responsible for PJM’s information technology services activities, including business solutions, application development services, and infrastructure & operations. Additionally, he provided active leadership for implementation of the Advanced Control Center Program including oversight of creation of a new information and application architecture for the PJM energy management and market management systems.

Prior to joining PJM in 2002, he was employed by GPU Energy and FirstEnergy.

PJM Interconnection, founded in 1927, ensures the reliability of the high-voltage electric power system serving 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM coordinates and directs the operation of the region’s transmission grid, which includes over 81,000 miles of transmission lines; administers a competitive wholesale electricity market; and plans regional transmission expansion improvements to maintain grid reliability and relieve congestion. PJM’s regional grid and market operations produce annual savings of $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion.

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