James B. Robb

James B. Robb

President and Chief Executive Officer

North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

Jim Robb assumed the role of NERC’s president and chief executive officer (CEO) in April 2018. Robb oversees NERC’s mission of assuring the reliability and security of the North American bulk power system. As president and CEO, Robb leads the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) and is responsible for all its key programs as well as the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC). He also chairs the ERO Enterprise Executive Committee, which coordinates the operations of the six Regional Entities that support NERC’s reliability mission across North America.

Robb joined the ERO Enterprise in 2013 when he was appointed the president and CEO of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), the Regional Entity serving the Western Interconnection.

Robb has nearly 40 years of experience in the energy sector as an engineer, consultant, and senior executive. He is a sought-after speaker at industry events on the transformation of the electric power system, rapidly evolving cyber security threats to critical infrastructure, integration of variable generation and large loads, and the increasing interdependency of electric and natural gas reliability.

Robb serves on the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council. He is an ex officio member of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Committee for Sustainable Energy and chairs its Expert Group on Cleaner Electricity Systems. He has served on multiple non-profit boards including the United States Energy Association, Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, the Houston Symphony, Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, and was an Energy Policy advisor to the Bay Area Economic Forum in San Francisco.

Robb earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University in Indiana and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.