Leadership

Under her leadership, the IESO oversees the safe and reliable operation of Ontario's bulk electricity system, ensuring affordable electricity is available when and where people need it.

As part of its mandate to plan and prepare for the future, the IESO works with sector partners to identify energy needs, develop supply options, drive innovation, and harness data and information for decision-making. The IESO also delivers energy efficiency and demand management programs that contribute to the cost-effectiveness and reliability of Ontario’s power system.

Throughout her career, Ms. Gallinger has focused on driving strategic change within complex organizations to deliver shareholder and stakeholder value. Prior to joining the IESO, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Elexicon Energy, a large municipally-owned electricity distributor in Ontario, which she led through a sizeable merger integration. She has also held senior roles in the electricity sector that include Chief Strategy and Financial Officer at the Electrical Safety Authority as well as VP, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Financial Officer at Oakville Hydro.

Ms. Gallinger sits on several boards, including the Ontario Energy Network where she serves as Vice Chair, and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. Prior to joining the IESO she also served on the boards of the Ontario Energy Association and the Electricity Distributors Association. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University, is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant (Illinois). She has also completed the Chartered Director and Audit Committee Certified program at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University.

He is responsible for financial planning and analysis, treasury and pension operations, settlements, as well as project management.

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.

In 2022, he led the issuance of up to $1.5 billion refund to eligible Ontario employers for the first time in WSIB’s one hundred plus year history.  During his time there, he was also instrumental in the strategy and execution to eliminate WSIB's Unfunded Liability of $14 billion nine years ahead of legislated requirements.  Prior to his time at WSIB, he also held progressively 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 this 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.

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.

He is responsible for legal services, support for the IESO’s Board of Directors, contract management and the creation and maintenance of market rules.

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 this 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.

She is responsible for providing strategic leadership in the areas of communications, stakeholder engagement, government relations, and innovation, and managing and enhancing all relationships on behalf of the 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 stakeholder relations and advocacy strategies, overseeing business initiatives to ensure a robust and responsive customer experience; and fostering transparency and mutual accountability for internal and external stakeholder audiences to transform relationships into true partnerships.

Prior to joining the IESO, most recently Ms. Nell served as the President and CEO of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce and Vice President, Municipal and Stakeholder Relations at the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

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. She is also currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Empire Club of Canada.

Ms. Riddell has more than 30 years of experience with the IESO and its predecessor organizations, and the electricity sector. She holds a degree in Social Sciences from the University of Western Ontario.

Ms. Riddell first joined the organization as a summer student. Over the years she has held a number of different positions on the way to taking up the role of Vice-President, Human Resources. In this position her responsibilities include supporting the IESO’s strategic and operational plans through effective leadership and management of the human resources function, and ensuring a strategic approach to talent planning and management in all its aspects. Areas of particular focus include culture transformation, the employee experience/engagement, and diversity & inclusion.

As one of the IESO’s key corporate priority initiatives, MRP is focused on improving how we supply, schedule and price electricity to meet Ontario’s future needs – once implemented, the program is expected to result in $700 million in net benefits in the first 10 years alone.

In her 17 years with the IESO, Ms. Savage has held progressively senior roles within the different parts of the organization, including market development, government and regulatory affairs, Indigenous relations and operations. This included managing the market rule amendment process for the Renewables Integration Initiative and successfully leading IESO’s fees applications for Ontario Energy Board approval. Her broad range of experience at the IESO means that she brings a customer-focused and enterprise-wide perspective to each role that she takes on.

Ms. Savage has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Guelph.

In this 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).