CEO of power coordinator PJM under fire before job start
The incoming chief executive of the largest U.S. power grid is getting flack even before he begins his new job Kallanish Energy learns.
A consumer watchdog has accused Manu Asthana, who started as CEO of PJM Interconnection Jan. 1, of mismanagement at his previous employer, Bloomberg reported.
Asthana declined to comment to Bloomberg on the mismanagement allegations. PJM chairman Ake Almgren defended Asthana’s tenure as the head of Direct Energy Inc.’s North America Home division, stating the executive “implemented organizational changes and addressed practices that were viewed as misleading or unfair.”
During Asthana’s time at Direct Energy, the retail power provider paid fines for abusing laws or regulations in Texas, Connecticut and other states, Bloomberg reported.
Tyson Slocum, director of energy at public interest group Public Citizen, sent a letter dated Dec. 12, to PJM’s board complaining of its “troubling” CEO selection. “He led a retail power outfit that ripped off consumers,”….
