MISO's Darryl Brown Warns Not to Ignore the Generation Gap

Daryl Brown, executive director of external affairs for MISO South Region

Darryl Brown is a member of Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s executive team and its primary internal and external leader for regional operations, customer management and government relations. He oversees regional customer integration efforts focusing on extending and protecting the organization.

Before joining MISO in February 2020, Brown was the director of innovation/utility at Hitachi Global Social Innovation Business. Before that, he was the director of innovation/utility at Current Powered by GE. Brown also previously served as vice president at Southern Co., where he led teams in marketing, customer service, engineering, distribution and economic development for both Mississippi Power Co. and Georgia Power Co. Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Mississippi State University.

Brown served in both the Army National Guard and Army Reserve for 17 years before being honorably discharged as a major.

In brief, what is MISO, how does it work and what is crucial for readers to understand about it?

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator is the primary regional transmission organization in the central part of the North American continent spanning from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Canada’s Hudson Bay in the north, then from the Great Lakes and Appalachian foothills in the east to the open prairies west of the Mississippi River. We are responsible for managing the electricity superhighway for the footprint and operating one of the world’s largest energy markets with approximately $22 billion in annual gross market energy transactions.

What’s the future of power generation? Are renewables the go-to option from now on?

Transmission is vital to moving electricity from where it is generated to where it is needed most. The future will likely see an increase in renewables, but a diverse generation portfolio is needed to operate the grid of the future. Our members have seen customer preferences shift more towards renewables, and some state regulations have set carbon reduction goals that lead to the use of more renewables.

Looking back at February’s grid calamity, particularly in Texas, what was the biggest lesson you drew? Is MISO making any investments as a direct result?

While the overall event was successful in the face of extreme conditions, it also highlighted the impact that the increase in extreme weather events and changing resource fleet have on the grid operator’s ability to maintain reliability. Last month, we published “The February Arctic Event” (PDF) looking back at what happened during the event and what is needed to ensure that the grid can avoid the crippling outcomes experienced by some of our neighbors. The report also outlines the implications for MISO’s “Response to the Reliability Imperative,” which describes the many interconnected efforts that MISO is pursuing in the realms of markets, operations and planning to address the challenges we are facing.

Tell us about MISO’s work in the community.

Since joining MISO in 2020, I’ve been impressed with our employees’ commitment to community service and our partnerships with organizations like Make-A-Wish, the Watershed, Arkansas Foodbank and the Museum of Discovery’s Girls in STEM program. We are also heavily involved with the Arkansas chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy, whose mission is to support the advancement of minorities in energy careers and to serve as a resource for policy discussion on the economic, social and political impact of environmental and energy policies on African Americans and other minorities.

What drew you to the energy industry?

The focus on service. The electric power industry is driven toward a specific mission and we have to collaborate in order to achieve the goal of reliability.