Two new Market Surveillance Committee members appointed; ISO Board of Governors also names new vice chair

FOLSOM, Calif. – The ISO’s Board of Governors and Western Energy Markets Governing Body have approved two new members of the Market Surveillance Committee (MSC), which is required under the ISO’s tariff to provide independent external expertise on market performance and design to ISO management, the governing bodies, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The ISO Board also named Mary Leslie its new vice chair on Thursday, one of two leadership positions on the Board that rotate annually.

The new Market Surveillance Committee members, approved Wednesday during a joint session of the ISO Board and the Governing Body, are:

• Ross Baldick, Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin with technical expertise in power systems, restructured electricity markets, and longstanding engagement with market design, market power mitigation, and locational marginal pricing.
• Jacob Mays, an assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, a leading scholar in modern electricity market design and analysis whose work reflects a capacity to rigorously evaluate market outcomes, assess rule performance, and identify structural risks in complex, rapidly evolving electricity markets

Dr. Baldick and Dr. Mays fill vacancies created by the expired terms of Dr. Scott Harvey and Dr. Benjamin Hobbs, two nationally recognized experts who retired in March after serving the MSC and the ISO with distinction for decades. 

Dr. James Bushnell has also served on the MSC with distinction since 2002 and assumes the role of chair. He is an economics professor at UC Davis and a member of the Economic Assessment and Allocation Committee for the California Air Resources Board and the Market Monitoring Committee for the California Power Exchange. He is an expert in the field of energy policy with an emphasis on market incentives and the impact of market power.

The ISO’s federal tariff requires the organization’s CEO to appoint members to the three-person MSC, subject to Board and Governing Body approval.

Elliot Mainzer, ISO President and CEO, said both nominees meet the requirement of deep expertise in energy markets, unassailable integrity and complete financial independence from the ISO or business related to the markets or its participants.

“After careful consultation and consideration, I am recommending two candidates whose combined expertise, independence, and professional standing meet—and in my view exceed—the high bar set by the MSC’s history,” Mainzer said.

Under the ISO tariff, the MSC must include at least three experts with combined experience in electricity market economics, generation and transmission operations, competition and antitrust law and energy or commodity training. Committee members must meet strict independence requirements, including no financial interest in market participants, engaging in market transactions, or compensated commercial involvement in ISO-related legal or regulatory proceedings.

Dr. Baldick has an academic and research career spanning more than three decades, with research focusing on issues that are foundational to market surveillance, including locational marginal pricing, congestion management, strategic bidding behavior, and market power mitigation in transmission‑constrained markets.

He has led and contributed to numerous research efforts on market power assessment tools and offer analysis, including projects supported by the National Science Foundation. And he has worked directly with organized markets such as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the Mid-Continent Independent System Operator, giving him a deep, practical understanding of how market rules, system operations, and participant behavior interact in real time.

Dr. Mays has expertise in stochastic optimization, which refers to events that happen with random probability, statistical learning, and market performance under uncertainty—analytical tools that have become increasingly important as the grid continues to evolve.

His research examines market effectiveness amid increased variable renewable and flexible generation, and uncertain load patterns—all important issues on the grid as more renewable energy is being used.

Dr. Mays’ prior experience as a management consultant gives him practical insight into complex operational systems and data‑driven performance analysis—skills that are directly relevant to effective market oversight.