Board of Directors

Cheryl LaFleur, Board Chair

Cheryl LaFleur joined the ISO New England Board in 2019 and was named Chair in 2021. She is a former Commissioner and Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), having been nominated by President Barack Obama in 2010 and confirmed by the Senate for a second term in 2014. Before her FERC tenure, LaFleur served as Executive Vice President and Acting CEO at National Grid USA. She held other executive positions at National Grid USA, and its predecessor, New England Electric System, including Chief Operating Officer, President of the New England Distribution Companies, and General Counsel. She began her career as an attorney at Ropes and Gray in Boston. Currently, LaFleur is a Nonresident Fellow with the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy and also serves on its advisory board. In addition, she serves on the advisory board of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University.

Caren Anders

Caren Anders is a transmission expert who previously served as an executive advisor for Quanta Technology, where she worked with clients across the utility sector providing advisory solutions and services. Her career has included leading Duke Energy’s transmission organization, overseeing 2,100 employees responsible for serving 7 million customers. Prior to joining Duke, Anders served as vice president of transmission and substations at Exelon. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s of Business Administration in Finance from Drexel University. She is an NACD Certified Director.

Brook M. Colangelo

Brook Colangelo, now in his second term, is Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Waters Corporation, the world’s leading specialty measurement company serving the life, materials, and food sciences industries for more than 60 years. Colangelo is responsible for driving global IT and digital business transformation. He previously served as Executive Vice President and first-ever Chief Technology Officer for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), one of world’s leading education companies. There, he led the transformation of the company’s new online teaching and learning platform. Before HMH, he served as Chief Information Officer of the White House under President Barack Obama, responsible for modernizing, securing, and managing all aspects of the technology platforms and infrastructure supporting the first-ever digitally connected president of the United States. Earlier in his career, he led technology for the American Red Cross' Hurricane Recovery Program. Colangelo is a founding member of the Boston Chief Information Officer Council and is a graduate of The George Washington University.

Steve Corneli

Steve Corneli is principal and owner of Strategies for Clean Energy Innovation, focusing on the efficient deployment of high levels of clean resources. His clients have included leading energy and environmental think tanks, distributed energy technology companies, and clean energy and environmental advocates. Prior to forming Strategies for Clean Energy Innovation, Corneli served as senior vice president of policy, strategy, and sustainability at NRG. He previously served seven years as a consumer advocate within the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. Corneli holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, N.M, as well as a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute, with a concentration in energy, environment, and technology policy.

Michael J. Curran

Michael Curran joined the ISO New England Board in 2019. Curran spent the majority of his career in the financial services and investment community, including the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc., where he was chairman and chief executive officer. Before joining the Boston Stock Exchange, he was managing director and COO of Kemper Funds and International Mutual Funds for Zurich Scudder Investments. Curran most recently served as chair of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) Board of Directors. He is a graduate of Dickinson College.

Roberto R. Denis

Roberto R. Denis has more than 40 years of experience in the electricity industry. He retired as Senior Vice President for NV Energy in 2013, where he was responsible for the company’s system dispatch, transmission, distribution, engineering, and project management functions. While in this role, he developed and built the One-Nevada Transmission line, creating a single balancing authority for the state. Previously, Denis was with Florida Power & Light (FPL), where he served in various positions for more than 30 years. His last role was Vice President of Market & Regulatory Affairs for FPL Energy, where he directed regulatory strategy for the construction and operation of independent power projects throughout the US. He also analyzed emerging market structures and participated in stakeholder forums within various ISO/RTO footprints. He holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Catherine Flax

Catherine Flax is the president of private investing at X Machina Capital Strategies, focusing on investments related to energy transition in the oil and gas arena. She is an economist who has worked as a senior executive in the energy, power, and commodities businesses for several investment banks. During her career, Flax has served as global head of commodity finance at J.P. Morgan and managing director and head of commodities, Americas, at BNP Paribas. She has also served on a range of industry and corporate boards, as well as on advisory boards. Flax holds Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Finance from Texas A&M University, and a Master’s in Economics from Brown University.

Mark Vannoy

Mark Vannoy is President of Maine Water, having joined that company in 2019 as Vice President after serving on the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for seven years. During his tenure at the Maine PUC, which included serving four years as Chairman, Vannoy adjudicated more than 2,200 cases involving electric, gas, and water utilities. He also served as a board member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, a member of the Critical Infrastructure and Water Committees, and board chair of the New England Utility Cybersecurity Information Collaborative. Vannoy proudly served in the US military for 20 years and is a retired US Navy officer. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University.

Gordon van Welie

Gordon van Welie is President and Chief Executive Officer of ISO New England Inc., having previously served as the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He joined ISO New England from Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution LLC, where he served as Vice President and General Manager of the Power Systems Control Division and was responsible for managing information technology solutions for electric companies. Before coming to Siemens, van Welie held several positions at ESKOM, South Africa’s electric utility based in Johannesburg. He has been a member of the National Academy of Engineering since 2017, and currently serves on the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems. In addition, van Welie belongs to the Executive Committee of the U. S. National Committee of CIGRE, the Member Representatives Committee of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the ISO/RTO Council, and the IEEE Power & Engineering Society. He is a recipient of the 2017 Utility Variable-Generation Integration (UVIG) Achievement Award and, in 2016, was awarded the IEEE Power & Energy Society Leadership in Power Award.

Melvin G. Williams, Jr.

Joining the ISO Board in 2022, Melvin G. “Mel” Williams, Jr. is a former United States Navy nuclear-trained submariner, who held positions in command of a submarine, a submarine squadron, a submarine group, and a fleet, completing his service as a vice admiral. One of his four flag officer assignments was director of global operations at U.S. Strategic Command, where his responsibilities included the nuclear, space, and cyberspace missions. As a presidential appointee in the Obama Administration, Williams served at the U.S. Department of Energy as the associate deputy secretary of energy, where he was responsible for the department’s day-to-day management and operational excellence. In 2022, Williams concluded a decade working in academia, in roles that included associate dean of engineering at The Catholic University of America, associate provost at The George Washington University, and research nuclear reactor consultant at the University of California, Davis. In addition to the ISO New England Board, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America. He also serves as a special government employee on the Education for Seapower Advisory Board, which provides the secretary of defense and deputy secretary of defense independent advice on matters relating to the Naval War College. Williams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the United States Naval Academy, a Master of Science degree in engineering management from The Catholic University of America, and a certificate in national and international security from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.