Southwest Power Pool announces leadership changes

Little Rock-based regional transmission organization Southwest Power Pool (SPP) has promoted multiple director-level and executive-level staff in legal and engineering and announced that a c-suite executive plans to retire in January.

SPP ensures electric reliability across 14 states, including part of Arkansas.

According to a Monday (Sept. 30) news release, Michael Desselle, vice president and chief compliance and administrative officer, will retire effective Jan. 2. He joined the organization in 2006 and has more than 40 years of energy industry experience. He’s responsible for ensuring the organization’s adherence to a “process-driven environment, interregional initiatives, and quality and process improvement efforts,” the release shows.

He also helps “ensure consistency, international coordination and communication with the corporate strategic plans.”

Mike Riley, senior director and deputy general counsel, has been promoted to fill Desselle’s position. He’s managed the daily operations of SPP’s legal department by providing direction and guidance in support of all business units. He joined the organization in 2009. Previously, Riley was senior counsel with Alltel Corp. and an assistant district counsel with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He earned law and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Riley will start in his new position as vice president of corporate services and chief compliance officer on Oct. 1 to ensure a smooth transition until Desselle retires.

“We’ll definitely miss Michael,” said Barbara Sugg, president and CEO. “His dedication to SPP is clear. He’s respected by his peers as exemplified by his service as chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of the North American Energy Standards Board. We wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement.”

SPP has reconfigured its legal management team following Riley’s promotion. Chris Nolen and Tessie Kentner, managing attorneys at SPP, have been named associate general counsel, effective Oct. 1.

Kentner oversees the legal team responsible for supporting corporate legal matters, transmission planning, SPP’s service agreement process and state regulatory matters. She joined the organization in 2009 and previously served as in-house counsel at Alltel Wireless. She received a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas.

Nolen oversees the legal team partnered with the markets, settlements, operations and credit teams. He joined SPP in September 2016 and previously practiced criminal defense law. He earned law and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

On SPP’s engineering team, Steve Purdy, principal systems planning engineer, was promoted to technical director, engineering, effective Oct. 1. He’ll handle engineering challenges and policy development. He joined SPP in 2006 and previously worked in engineering at the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas.