The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) today named information technology executive Mark Armentrout as the new chairman of its board of directors at the December board meeting.  Armentrout replaces Michael S. Greene, who announced his retirement from the board after serving a combined six years as chairman. 

Armentrout, of McKinney, Texas, was elected to the ERCOT board in June 2003, when ERCOT first added independent members – those unaffiliated with market participant organizations.  He is an executive vice president of MBNA Technology, Inc., part of MBNA America, the world’s largest independent credit card issuer. 

“ERCOT has benefited greatly from Mike Greene’s fair and impartial leadership during the critical start-up years of the competitive electric market, and I am grateful that I had the chance to work with him on the board before assuming this position,” Armentrout said.  “I am proud to be associated with ERCOT and its members as we work to ensure reliable and cost-effective operation of the electric grid for the benefit of Texas electricity customers.” 

Greene, chairman and CEO of TXU Power, the generation subsidiary of TXU Corporation, first served as chairman in 1997-98, and assumed the role again from June 2002 to the present.  The election of Armentrout as chairman of ERCOT’s board marks early compliance with the requirements of Senate Bill 408, approved by the 79th Texas Legislature, to install an independent director as board chair by September 2006. 

Bob Manning, director of engineering for H-E-B Grocery Company, will continue in his role as vice-chairman, which he has held since June 2002. 

Two new board members were confirmed for the 2006 board at ERCOT’s annual membership meeting which preceded the board meeting: Tom Standish, CenterPoint Energy, representing the investor-owned utility segment, and R. Scott Gahn, Just Energy, representing the retail electric provider segment.  The current ERCOT board consists of 14 members, including three independent members, three consumer representatives, six market participant representatives, the ERCOT CEO and the PUC chairman (non-voting).  Interviews are in progress for two additional independent board members to comply with SB 408 which requires two additional independent members be seated by September 2006. 

ERCOT’s members include retail consumers, investor- and municipal-owned electric utilities, rural electric co-operatives, river authorities, independent generators, power marketers and retail electric providers.  Membership in ERCOT is open to any entity that meets one of the segment definitions in the ERCOT Bylaws and operates in the ERCOT region, or represents consumers within the ERCOT region.  ERCOT’s 2006 membership currently includes 140 members (122 corporate members and 18 associate members). 

Additional biography information is located on the ERCOT Web site.