Former New York Power Authority Chairman John Dyson has been appointed vice chairman of the board of trustees.

Dyson, currently chairman of Millbrook Capital, an investment firm, has served on the current board of trustees since March 2011. From 1979 to 1985, he served as NYPA chairman.

“I’m honored to be elected as vice chairman of the Power Authority, an organization whose statewide generation and transmission facilities and highly professional and dedicated work force make it an integral part of New York State’s electric power system and economy,” Dyson said.

Trustees also elected Edward A. Welz of Queens and Donald A. Russak of Cortlandt Manor, Westchester County, as chief operating officer, and as executive vice president and chief financial officer of the authority, respectively.

Welz and Russak are long-time NYPA employees who have served in an acting capacity over the last six months in carrying out the responsibilities of the permanent positions they were elected to on Tuesday.

Dyson succeeds Jonathan Foster of New York City as vice chairman. Foster was appointed to the NYPA board by Gov. David A. Paterson. He is a managing director of Current Capital LLC, a private equity and portfolio company management firm. He will continue on NYPA’s seven-member board and remain active on key committees, including audit and governance as well as a newly formed committee on strategic planning and energy policy.

Michael J. Townsend of Fairport, Monroe County, remains chairman of NYPA, presiding over the board meetings and overseeing the authority’s chief executive and senior management.

“My fellow trustees and I and NYPA executive management are excited about the important role that the Power Authority will play in supporting Governor Cuomo’s robust and balanced energy policies,” Vice-Chairman Dyson said. “This includes his Energy Highway initiative for beefing up the electric power grid and integrating new sources of renewable power, a master plan for increased investments in energy efficiency at state buildings, and his NY-Sun program to quadruple the state’s annual development of solar power by 2013. There are a lot of energy challenges ahead and NYPA will be making significant contributions.”

The varied public offices that Dyson has held over the years in state and local governments, include chairman of the New York City Mayor’s Council of Economic Advisors (1997 to 2001); New York City deputy mayor for Economic Development and Finance (1994 to 1996); New York State Commerce Commissioner (1975 to 1979); and commissioner of Agriculture and Markets of New York State (1975).

The trustees’ election of Ed Welz as NYPA chief operating officer, followed his holding the dual positions of acting chief operating officer and executive vice president and chief engineer, Power Supply. He held the latter position since April 2008.

Welz joined NYPA in 1982 as an assistant electrical engineer, assuming positions of increasing responsibilities over the decades.

Before becoming the Power Authority’s acting executive vice president and chief financial officer last September, Russak served as the Authority’s senior vice president, Corporate Planning and Finance. He joined NYPA in 1979 as a power analyst and advanced through several positions in the Authority’s Marketing and Transmission Groups, before becoming vice president of finance in 2003.