Ms. Maxine Buckles

ERCOT Chief Financial Officer Maxine Buckles said the average ERCOT salary is $80,000 plus $30,000 in benefits though she said some employees probably make somewhere in the $20,000 range for some positions to "hundreds of thousands" of dollars for the CEO.

Maxine Buckles named first CFO in ERCOT history

Austin , After an intensive nationwide search, the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) has named Maxine Buckles, its first ever Chief Financial Officer (CFO).Ms. Buckles will begin her tenure on February 1, 2001, and rounds out an executive team that includes Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tom Noel, and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Sam Jones.
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"The decision to hire Maxine was unanimous," said Noel referring to the 12 member-team involved in the selection process."From the start, we were highly impressed with her credentials and background.Beyond that, her level of sincerity, her focus, and her obvious commitment to getting us where we need to be, sealed the deal for all of us."

In her new capacity, Ms. Buckles will oversee all of ERCOT's financial operations and will report directly to Noel who is also a member of the ERCOT Board of Directors.
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Ms. Buckles will also manage the Corporate Finance, Accounting, Policy and Processes, and Portfolio Planning andAnalysis departments, and will hire a staff slated to include a controller, senior accountants, analysts, and accounting administrators.Total staffing of the Financial Operations Dept. should approximate 20-25 persons when fully completed."I spent 14 years in Texas, and I am delighted to be returning to the Lone Star state," said Buckles who lived in Houston from 1981 to 1993."I am looking forward to the challenges involved in transitioning the state of Texas into a restructured market."

Ms. Buckles who is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), was previously employed at Plantation Pipe Line Company in Atlanta, Georgia where she was CFO and Treasurer for five years.Prior to joining Plantation Pipe Line, Ms. Buckles spent three years as Manager of Accounting with Iroquois Gas Transmission System in Shelton, Connecticut.She held positions of increasing responsibility in Houston, Texas while employed at Koch Gateway Pipe Line Company, Tenneco, Inc., Saber Energy Inc., and the public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co.

Ms. Buckles holds a Bachelor's of Science Degree from Xavier University and an MBA from Tulane University.She will reside and office in Austin, Texas.

Texas is restructuring its $16 Billion electricity industry.

This increasing level of debt service will only cover capital improvements necessary to sustain the system as it operates today without any system or PUC rule changes, said Maxine Buckles, chief financial officer of ERCOT.

ERCOT has incurred debt of about $95 million so far, Buckles said.Funding comes from short-term commercial paper that ERCOT is trying to convert to long-term debt.ERCOT expects to borrow another $28.5 million in 2002 rounding out ERCOT's borrowings at $123.5 million.By fiscal year 2005 debt will stand at about $159 million, she said.

ERCOT's assets -- property, plant, and equipment -- are valued at $121.5 million.The bulk of the assets are systems hardware and software valued at $92.7 million.

Because ERCOT is not a state agency but a nonprofit corporation, it can't get the lower interest rates available to agencies backed by the state's credit rating.The best interest rate ERCOT is being offered is 7% on long-term debt and 4% on the commercial paper program, Buckles said.

The 30-year Treasury bond is trading at about 5.36% and 180-day commercial paper for investment grade companies is at about 1.77%.

"We are in the process of converting the short-term debt and have several offers before us," she said."We expect to have a facility in place before the first quarter ends."

Consumer advocates questioned why ERCOT went to the short-term commercial paper market to fund long-term capital improvements, especially since it probably costs more, said Janee Briesemeister, senior policy analyst with Consumers Union.

Capital expenditures for 2002 are expected to be $35.7 million and decline to $15.5 million annually through 2005, according to documents filed at the PUC.Total ERCOT labor expenses for 2002 are estimated at $29.8 million with total employees increasing to 300 from 238 in 2001.

ERCOT Chief Financial Officer Maxine Buckles said the average ERCOT salary is $80,000 plus $30,000 in benefits though she said employees there make anywhere from $20,000 for some positions to "hundreds of thousands" of dollars for the CEO.

Maxine Buckles, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)

Maxine Buckles, ERCOT chief financial officer, said the grid operator was "closing the 2001 books now.The audit won't begin until the end of February."She said the audited 2001 financial statement won't be ready until April.She did not say if the statement would be made available to state regulators.

The late date for the audit and presentation of 2001 financial statements is the result of "scheduling and timing of the audit," she said."We don't have a deadline like public companies.We are not under strict reporting requirements."

ERCOT claims it is exempt from reporting requirements because of its status as a nonprofit corporation.Since it is not a state agency, ERCOT also claims it is not subject to open records.ERCOT receives its revenues and funding from "member" utilities and other market participants.
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According to the minutes of the board, Buckles presented a current monthly financial statement and a year-to-date statement at each board meeting during 2001.ERCOT referred the Office of Public Utility Counsel to the web site for the board minutes.But the statements were not included in the minutes posted on ERCOT's web site.

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The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas Inc. (ERCOT) has named Maxine Buckles as its first CFO. Buckles comes to ERCOT from Plantation Pipe Line Co., where she was CFO and treasurer for five years.

The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas Inc. (ERCOT) has named Maxine Buckles as its first CFO.Buckles comes to ERCOT from Plantation Pipe Line Co., where she was CFO and treasurer for five years.

Maxine Buckles, chief financial officer, Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)

ERCOT Chief Financial Officer Maxine Buckles said the average ERCOT salary is $80,000 plus $30,000 in benefits though she said some employees probably make somewhere in the $20,000 range for some positions to "hundreds of thousands" of dollars for the CEO.