Orriginating from a eight utility company agreement, under Mr. Harris’s leadership and vision, PJM became the world’s largest competitive wholesale electricity market, which now ensures the reliability of the largest centrally dispatched grid in the world. PJM’s members total more than 450 and serve about 51 million people. PJM has administered about $71 billion in energy and energy-service trades since the regional markets opened in 1997. More than 70 nations have sent delegates to PJM to learn from Mr. Harris about PJM’s market model and the operation of the electric grid.
Mr. Harris has served as a member of the North American Electric Reliability Council’s (NERC) Board of Trustees and is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. In 2005, Mr. Harris was named CEO of the Year by Platts Global Energy Awards. Mr. Harris’s leadership at PJM was instrumental in the achievement of the 1999 James H McGraw Award for business excellence and the Computerworld Smithsonian Award for Technical innovation, which was placed into the Permanent research collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
As an authority in all areas of energy sources, Mr. Harris frequently provides expert testimony on electric-industry issues before federal and state regulatory agencies, as well as Congress and state legislatures. He is frequently quoted by media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, C-SPAN, Forbes, Fortune and Time.
Currently, Mr. Harris is a senior fellow in PennFuture’s Center for Energy, Enterprise and the Environment. He is founder, Chair, President and CEO of Tres Amigas LLC.
A native of New Mexico, Mr. Harris is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He earned his Master of Arts in Business Management from the University of Northern Colorado. He is a Certified Management Accountant and a Computer Systems Professional.