Two individuals have been selected to join Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) senior leadership team. Following the announced that Barbara Sugg would be stepping up as the company’s new CEO, positions opened up in the companies’ leadership structure.
Based on Sugg’s and COO Lanny Nickell’s recommendation, the SPP board of directors has named Sam Ellis and Antoine Lucas to senior positions. Ellis will serve as the vice president for information technology (IT) and chief information security officer, while Lucas will be the vice president of engineering.
Both new positions are effective Saturday, Feb. 1.
Ellis and Lucas are replacing Sugg and Nickell, respectively. In mid-January, SPP announced that Sugg would be taking over as CEO in 2020, replacing Nick Brown, who plans to retire. At the time, she was serving as the company’s vice president for information technology (IT) and chief information security officer, roles she had held since 2010 and 2016. Nickell left the role as vice president of engineering on Jan. 28 to take the COO role.
According to a SPP news release, Ellis is charged with “technology development and deployment,” as well as overseeing the company’s cybersecurity and IT strategy. Lucas will be over SPP’s transmission expansion plans and tracking performance of projects.
“I’m humbled to be chosen to lead the SPP IT organization,” Ellis said in a statement. “I will work hard to ensure that SPP finds new ways of leveraging technology to affordably support our mission and strategy while maintaining the reliability of IT systems that our stakeholders depend on.”
“I am excited for the opportunity to serve SPP and its stakeholders in this new role. I look forward to collaborating with SPP’s exceptional staff and stakeholders to add value to our organization as we take on the prospects of the future,” Lucas said.
Ellis joined Southwest Power Pool in 2003 and served as the company’s director of cybersecurity and controls since 2017. He previously served as director of systems operations, director of market administration and manager of market operations.He obtained a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Missouri Southern State University.
Lucas has worked at SPP for 13 years and previously served as an engineer and systems operator at Entergy. He holds a M.B.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Louisiana Tech University.
READ MORE: Barbara Sugg Named CEO for Southwest Power Pool