WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2019 – Shelley Longmuir, a director at the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), and Steven T. Naumann, a long-time veteran of Exelon Corp., have joined the Advisory Panel of Protect Our Power, one of the nation’s premier advocacy organizations devoted to ensuring the nation’s power grid is made more resilient against any potential attacks.
“The additions of Shelley and Steven enhance the knowledge base of our Advisory Panel, which now includes more than 20 experts from utilities, regulators, financial institutions, government agencies and the military,” said Jim Cunningham, executive director of Protect Our Power (POP). “With Shelley and Steven on board, Protect Our Power continues to gain in stature as it works towards its goal of ensuring our power grid is better protected from all attacks.”
POP is an independent, not-for-profit organization committed to bringing a sense of urgency and clarity to efforts to improve grid resilience and improving our ability to repel and recover from attacks on our electric system. POP functions mainly as a catalyst that works with industry, regulators and other stakeholders to identify what efforts need to be done, in defining the process that assures they will be accomplished promptly and in identifying funding to pay for needed improvements.
Longmuir has enjoyed a diverse career as a corporate board member, Fortune 50 Senior Officer, and Federal Government Legal/Administrative Counsel. In addition to WECC, she was a board director for Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and has additional experience in numerous other industries.
“Keeping our nation’s electric grid secure is a critical priority,” said Longmuir. “POP is the only organization working with all aspects of the industry, regulators and federal and state governments to keep the grid robust and resilient.”
Naumann, a 40-year veteran of the utility industry, recently retired from Exelon, the nation’s largest regulated utility, where he was vice president, transmission and NERC policy. Between Exelon and his previous tenure at Commonwealth Edison, Naumann has held numerous engineering, managerial and executive positions responsible for the planning, operation, and security of the electric delivery system. “Keeping our grid safe and secure has been at the core of my duties for the past 40 years,” said Naumann. “I am excited to continue that vital work by joining the Protect Our Power team.”
POP maintains both 501c3 and 501c4 status. Its management team includes John Lang, chairman, former treasurer of Aetna, Suedeen Kelly, regulatory counsel, former FERC commissioner, Richard Mroz, former president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and chairman of the Committee on Critical Infrastructure of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and Paul Feldman, past chairman of the Midcontinent ISO and CEO of Columbia Energy and Utilicorp United.
About Protect Our Power:
Protect Our Power (POP) is a not-for-profit organization designed to build a consensus among key stakeholders, decision-makers and public policy influencers to launch a coordinated and adequately funded effort to make the nation's electric grid more resilient and more resistant to all external threats. The national program must also ensure establishment of an enhanced power restoration and recovery component for all grid operations that would include communications protocols to protect the American public. Protect Our Power has a highly- experienced staff and 25-member Advisory Panel representing a broad cross-section of grid-related disciplines. POP is singularly and uniquely positioned as a non-partisan, unbiased thought leader able to serve as a convening, moderating, action-oriented voice.
Media Contact:
Steve Kerekes | Protect Our Power
skerekes@protectourpower.org
(703)-508-2550