With Southwest Power Pool Chief Operating Officer Lanny Nickell set to take over as chief executive on April 1, the not-for-profit electric grid overseer has named Antoine Lucas as its executive vice president and COO.
The Little Rock-based regional transmission organization announced Lucas’ new role on Jan. 14. The promotion will be effective April 1.
Lucas, now vice president of markets, has worked for SPP since 2007. In recent years, he has worked to develop and design SPP’s market-based services. In a news release, SPP said Lucas has worked “with stakeholders to ensure the efficient and reliable operation of wholesale electricity markets.”
Nickell, in the release, expressed pleasure at seeing Lucas take the new position.
“Antoine’s keen understanding of what it will take to make SPP successful in the future, trusted relationships developed within and outside our organization, and authentic leadership qualities make him a great fit for the position,” Nickell said.
“I look forward to working with him to achieve my vision for SPP’s continued success built on our collaborative culture and achieved through operational excellence, ambitious strategy and high visibility.”
Lucas is executive sponsor of SPP’s Markets+ effort. That initiative is developing a regional day-ahead wholesale electricity market in the Western Interconnection. Once the market is fully developed and stakeholders sign on, SPP will administer the wholesale power sales.
Before joining SPP, Lucas worked for Entergy Services Inc. as an engineer and system operator. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Louisiana Tech University.
“I’m excited to collaborate closely with Lanny in his new role, along with our board of directors, stakeholders and staff,” Lucas said in a statement. “This is an exciting time to be part of this industry, and I know together we’ll be able to overcome any challenge, discover innovative ways to enhance the value of the services we provide and fulfill our mission of responsibly and economically keeping the lights on today and in the future.”
SPP’s mission is to ensure reliable power supplies, transmission infrastructure and competitive retail power rates. Under a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission mandate, SPP serves utilities and other entities as the RTO in a 14-state swath of the central United States.
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