Leadership

Under Mr. Fitzsimmons' leadership, the IESO oversees the operation of Ontario's bulk electricity system, ensuring reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity is available when and where people need it, while supporting energy development that drives economic growth.

Mr. Fitzsimmons has extensive experience in both government and the energy sector. Prior to joining the IESO, he served as Ontario's Deputy Minister of Finance and Deputy Minister of Energy, where he helped advance the province's energy and economic priorities.

Mr. Fitzsimmons joined the government from the C-Suite at Hydro One where he held the role of Chief Corporate Affairs and Customer Officer.  With more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, Mr. Fitzsimmons has held a number of executive positions at both Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation.

Throughout his career, Mr. Fitzsimmons has led large-scale organizational initiatives, driven strategic transformation, and championed customer-focused service delivery and progressive economic partnerships with First Nations. He is recognized for building enduring and meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities, industry, government, labour organizations, and other sector partners, fostering growth, innovation, and collaboration.

In 2020, Mr. Fitzsimmons was recognized as one of Canada's 50 Best Executives by The Globe and Mail's Report on Business for his leadership in guiding transformational change while delivering industry-leading customer support programs. 

Mr. Fitzsimmons was the past Chair of the Ontario Financing Authority and the Ontario Electricity Financing Corporation, and served as a commissioner on the Public Service Commission of Ontario. He has also served as Chairman of Acronym Telecom and as an Independent Director on the Board of Directors for the Electrical Power Systems Construction Association and the Electricity Distributors Association. Mr. Fitzsimmons is deeply committed to advancing public policy and was an active member of Western University's Ivey Energy Policy Advisory Board and Toronto Metropolitan University's Centre for Labour Management Relations Advisory Board.

In his role, Mr. Chui is responsible for financial planning and analysis, treasury, insurance, pension, procure to pay operations, as well as facilities, enterprise risk management, corporate performance, emergency preparedness, the enterprise project management office and business analysis.

Mr. Chui is an experienced finance executive and brings a wide variety of expertise gained through working at large and complex organizations and financial institutions. He is a collaborative leader who continuously advocates for inclusion and diversity.

He previously served as the Chief Financial Officer for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), where he oversaw critical corporate functions including investments of over $35 billion, actuarial services, treasury, financial planning, project costing, financial reporting, corporate controllership, and internal controls.

Prior to his time at WSIB, he also held progressively senior finance roles at Infrastructure Ontario and the Province of Ontario.

A Masters of Accounting graduate, he is a chartered accountant (CPA CA) and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Waterloo.

In his role, Mr. Farmer leads the planning of Ontario’s electricity system to ensure it is reliable, resilient and cost-efficient in the years ahead.

This includes assessing the future adequacy of Ontario’s electricity supply and the transmission system, identifying system needs, and securing the resources needed to meet system needs, including through the advancement of conservation efforts.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Farmer has held a variety of senior roles at the IESO and Ontario Power Authority in the areas of Power System Planning, Conservation, and Corporate Relations. His career began with Union Gas where he focused on the residential and commercial markets, and was Director for Market Knowledge and Demand Side Management.

Mr. Farmer is a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business at The University of Western Ontario.

In his role, Mr. Foord’s responsibilities include accountability for IESO’s information technology solutions, strategies, and leading the IESO’s enterprise-wide cybersecurity management program.

He ensures oversight of the Smart Metering Entity which is responsible for all operation of the province’s Metering Data Management/Repository, allowing for time-of-use billing in Ontario.

Mr. Foord has over 25 years of experience in a wide array of IT disciplines. Most recently Mr. Foord was Vice-President, Information Technology at BGIS, a Brookfield company. He has also held senior roles including leadership positions at Loblaw Companies Limited and EDULINX Canada Ltd.

Mr. Foord attended York University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

In her role, Ms. Gagne is responsible for advancing the IESO’s strategic Human Resources (HR) capabilities, ensuring alignment between HR programs and business needs, fostering an ongoing commitment to service excellence and driving proactive and positive relationships with internal stakeholders, union partners, and business leaders across the organization.

For the last five years, Ms. Gagne was the IESO’s Director of Talent Management. During this time, she established a robust learning and development curriculum and designed frameworks for how the IESO assesses, develops and deploys talent through performance management, talent reviews and succession planning. She also oversaw the launch of the workforce planning function to ensure the organization has the right people, with the right skills, at the right time to drive the sector’s transformation.

Prior to joining the IESO in 2019, Ms. Gagne held progressively senior roles at Technical Safety British Columbia, including leading the HR and Communications functions as Vice President.

Ms. Gagne holds a Masters of Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Guelph and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Waterloo.

In his role, Mr. Lyle is responsible for legal services, support for the IESO’s Board of Directors, contract management, the creation and maintenance of market rules, shaping legal frameworks for market operations, and supporting the province’s evolving energy needs.

Mr. Lyle has extensive experience in the regulation of the electricity sector in Ontario. Previously, he was Vice-President, Planning, Legal, Indigenous Relations and Regulatory Affairs at the IESO; and General Counsel and Vice-President, Legal, Aboriginal and Regulatory Affairs at the Ontario Power Authority. Mr. Lyle has also served as counsel for the Ontario Energy Board and, before that, counsel at the Ministry of Energy.

Mr. Lyle obtained his law degree from the University of Toronto and also holds a BA in economics from the University of Western Ontario.

In his role, Mr. McDonald is responsible for conducting oversight of conduct in the IESO-administered electricity markets.

This includes enforcement of the Ontario market rules and North American reliability standards, and compliance guidance, such as rule interpretations and enforcement guidelines. This role also supports the Ontario Energy Board’s Market Surveillance Panel through market monitoring and the issuance of public reports assessing the state of the market and making recommendations for market design enhancements.

Over his career, Mr. McDonald has held a number of senior positions in market oversight agencies. Prior to joining the IESO in 2009, he was the Director of Competition Law at the New Zealand Commerce Commission, and the Director of the Ontario Region of the Canadian Competition Bureau.

Mr. McDonald holds a degree in economics from Carleton University.

In her role, Ms. Nell is responsible for providing strategic leadership in the areas of corporate communications, stakeholder and community engagement, government affairs, corporate strategy, and managing and enhancing all relationships on behalf of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).

Ms. Nell has extensive senior leadership and operational experience within the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Her expertise includes development of comprehensive communications, engagement and advocacy strategies, overseeing initiatives to ensure a robust and responsive customer experience, and fostering transparency and mutual accountability with internal and external audiences to transform relationships into true partnerships. In addition to her responsibilities at the IESO, she serves as a member of the Electrical Safety Authority Board of Directors.

Ms. Nell holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ottawa, completed her Masters degree at Western University, and is a paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario.

In her role, Ms. Savage is responsible for guiding the continued evolution of Ontario’s electricity markets and promoting a more efficient and innovative system.

Prior to this role, Ms. Savage was responsible for leading the Market Renewal Program – a major milestone in the IESO’s work to modernize the province’s electricity market by making it more efficient, competitive, and adaptable.

Over the past two decades, Ms. Savage has held various leadership roles at the IESO in market development, government and regulatory affairs, and operations. Her broad range of experience at the IESO means that she brings a customer-focused approach to advancing sector initiatives, fostering transparency and accountability.

Ms. Savage has a master’s degree in economics from the University of Guelph.

In his role, Mr. Sohi is responsible for the reliable and efficient operation of the province-wide power system, the administration of Ontario’s real-time electricity markets and the continued development of electricity market designs.

Mr. Sohi previously served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Business Development and Strategy at Ontario Power Generation (OPG), where he was accountable for commercial business functions including business development, acquisitions and electrification. As part of his focus on implementing OPG’s long-term strategic plan, he and his team delivered a growth strategy aimed at broadening OPG’s business within Ontario and beyond.

In addition to his SVP role at OPG, Mr. Sohi also served as President and CEO of Global First Power, leading Canada’s first Small Modular Reactor project. He joined OPG’s predecessor company, Ontario Hydro, in 1991. Over the years, he held roles of increasing responsibility in several technical functions, corporate functions, asset management, high-voltage substation operation and maintenance, and hydroelectric plant operations at locations across Ontario.

Mr. Sohi has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from McMaster University. He serves as a Director on the Board of the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC), and has also served as a council member of the Generation Sector Council at the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a member of the Thermal Generation Interest Group (TGIG) at the Centre for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation (CEATI).