Annual Meeting (Sep 23-25)

Ronald O. (R.O.) Nichols is president of Southern California Edison (SCE). He is responsible for external affairs, compliance, power production and procurement, and other operations. He is a member of SCE’s board of directors.

Nichols has more than 35 years of experience in the electric and water utility industry. He has been a strategic and operational advisor to utilities, state and local government, power suppliers and the financial community on complex energy and utility matters throughout the United States, particularly in the West.

Previously, Nichols was senior vice president of Regulatory Affairs and Nuclear for SCE, overseeing regulatory policy and affairs, regulatory operations and environmental affairs.

Prior to joining SCE in 2014, Nichols served for three years as General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), where he provided leadership for the utility in supplying reliable and competitively priced water and electricity while continuing to maintain and implement environmentally conscious policies and priorities.

Previously, Nichols was a managing director at the energy practice of Navigant Consulting, an international consulting organization with over 2,000 employees. From 1980 to 1997, before his position at Navigant, he was a co-founder and Senior Vice President of the energy and water utility consulting firm, Resource Management International, which was headquartered in Sacramento with offices throughout North America and in Europe and Asia. Prior to starting his energy and water utility consulting career in 1980, he held positions with the California Department of Water Resources and the California Energy Commission.

Nichols is a graduate of the University of California, Davis with a degree in agricultural economics and business management.

Dennis Vermillion is currently president of Avista Corporation. He also serves as chairman of the board of directors for Avista Corp. subsidiary Alaska Electric Light and Power Company.

Dennis joined Avista in 1985 and has held various staff and management positions. His experience covers a broad range of activities, including leadership, energy trading and marketing, risk management, scheduling, resource operations, power/transmission contracting, resource planning and coordination, regulatory issues and production cost modeling. Previously, Dennis served as senior vice president of Avista Corp. and president of Avista Utilities, vice president of energy resources for Avista Utilities and prior to that, as president and chief operating officer for Avista Energy from February 2001 until its sale in June 2007.

He is a 1985 graduate of Washington State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He currently serves as a board member for the Spokane County United Way and the Avista Foundation.

CEO, The Messina Group, Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff and President Barack Obama’s 2012 Campaign Manager

Jim Messina is arguably one of the world’s most successful political advisors. The mastermind behind President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, Jim Messina seized the reins on what Bloomberg Businessweek dubbed “the highest-wattage crash course in executive management ever undertaken”—and succeeded, earning the President another term in the White House. With the guidance of technology’s foremost leaders, Jim abandoned every step of a traditional presidential campaign and merged technology and politics in a way that was both unpredictable and unprecedented.

Jim’s strategies established the modern presidential campaign—Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt called it “the best-run campaign ever.” The American Association of Political Consultants later crowned him the Campaign Strategist of the Year (2013).

Since then he has gone on to advise Presidents and Prime Ministers on five continents including: UK’s Theresa May and David Cameron, Mexico’s Enrique Peña Nieto, Argentina’s Mauricio Macri, Italy’s Matteo Renzi and in 2016 helped Spain’s President Mariano Rajoy win a surprising re-election margin.

In 2013, Messina launched The Messina Group. In this role, Messina provides strategic consulting to businesses around the world. The firm has been involved in winning public policy campaigns on five continents. Clients include Uber, Airbnb, Google, Delta Air Lines, Hutchison Whampoa, and over 70 others.

Previously, Jim served as Deputy Chief of Staff in President Barack Obama’s White House, where he was integral to the passage of the historic health care bill, the economic stimulus act credited with saving the US economy, and the landmark repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

Messina continues to advise and guide Democratic candidates and organizations at all levels, as well as providing insight on news outlets such as MSNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, BBC and others.

Jim serves on the boards of Organizing for Action (OFA), Virgin HyperloopOne, Google’s Advanced Technology Panel, Vectra.ai, Pillpack, Patient Safety Movement Foundation, LanzaTech, Hyp3r, the United States Soccer Foundation, and the Montana Land Reliance.

Harsh Grover is currently leading Smart Distribution Operations at PG&E. She has been with PG&E for eight years and has held several positions of increasing responsibility within the Company, most recently as Manager of Applicant Design in Service Planning and Design. In this role, Harsh led a large team of Program Managers, ADEs and Estimators; and brought significant improvements to the Applicant Design process including reduction of Global and Design Review cycle times for both Gas and Electric. Prior to Applicant Design, Harsh led Emergency, Maintenance and Operations Programs, and held roles in Business Finance supporting Maintenance and Construction.

Prior to joining PG&E, Harsh spent several years with IBM Global Services, KLA-Tencor and KPMG. She holds an MBA in Finance, Marketing and Strategy from the Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University in Utah. She holds a BS in Computer Science and is Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified. In her spare time Harsh enjoys traveling and reading.

Josh joined Chelan County PUD in January 2015 in a role titled, Energy Efficiency Advisor. In this position, he manages several efficiency programs that includes HVAC, Weatherization, Lighting and Low Income and others. His job is evaluating current programs, program development, contractor management as well as being responsible for the county’s residential savings and budget targets each year. He also sit on the Residential Advisory Committee and several work groups for Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

Josh has worked in the energy efficiency profession since 2004. Originally hired at Puget Sound Energy as an Educator, where he spent several years teaching middle school science programs. Josh has bounced between managing residential and commercial efficiency programs for utilities. He holds an education degree from Luther College in Iowa and tries to spend as much time as he can in the mountains.

I joined the ENMAX Legal Services team in 2013. In January, 2017, I moved into my current role as a Manger, Legal Services where I continues to act as a legal counsel to internal clients, but also manage a cross functional team of lawyers that provide expertise across the company.

I have gained over 10 years of experience in the legal field and worked at a mid-size private law firm prior to joining ENMAX. My areas of experience and practice include various matters of corporate and commercial law. I aim to provide practical, strategic and timely advice on a variety of general matters for the business including information technology issues, risk management, negotiations, and process improvements.

Outside of work I spend most of my time with my husband and two children. We love to ski, swim, hike, bike and do all things active and outdoors.

Scott has been the Damage Prevention Supervisor for NW Natural since February of 2013. He oversees a team of Damage Prevention Specialists, who perform damage investigations and gas safety and dig law training for excavators and homeowners. Scott is currently the President of the Oregon Utility Coordinating Council and the Vice Chair for the Washington State Dig Law Safety Committee. He is the President of Metro Utility Coordinating Council in Portland, the Klickitat/Skamania Utility Coordinating Council and has served on the Oregon Utility Notification Center Board of Directors representing Natural Gas Distribution. Scott also sits on the advisory board for Clackamas Community College’s Utility Workforce Readiness program. Scott has over 19 years of experience in the natural gas industry to include Construction, Engineering and Quality Assurance.

I am a participant in the 2018 BAEL program and I find the utility and energy business very fascinating!! I am the manager of the 60-team member New Mexico Gas Company Call Center and have a wide range of responsibilities, from ensuring we are offering great customer service and working on introducing new features to meet customer needs, to attracting and keeping top talent, because our Call Center is a springboard to many other career opportunities in our company. I started my career in the utility business as an intern in college and I have nearly 20 years of experience in the industry, I have been in my current role for a year-and-a-half. I also have a background in corporate communications, and economic development.

I have been at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) since 2000. I started as a student intern in the procurement organization working on a variety of contracting actions. After a year I graduated from Portland State University with a business degree and was made permanent in the position. Three years later I became a team lead and about two years after that a supervisor managing our commercial materials purchasing department. I have since managed our construction management contracting team and now I manage our service acquisition team. I have bought or managed nearly everything BPA buys and have enjoyed every minute.

Chris Noble joined Mountain Fuel in December 1988. Mountain Fuel later changed it’s name to Questar and in 2016, Questar joined Dominion Energy. Chris moved into his current role as Operations System Support Manager/Western Gas Distribution in 2017 where he oversees the High Pressure, Measurement & Control, Meter Shop, Cathodic Protection and Leak Survey.
While starting his energy career as a meter reader in Sandy City, Utah, Chris attended college studying accounting and the electrical trade. Chris also has experience as a Collector, Service Technician, Ask-A-Tech, System Integrity Technician and Cathodic Protection Technician. Chris has also had various foreman and supervisor roles.
Chris has experience remodeling and framing houses, building log homes and had the opportunity to live and work as a missionary in London, England 1986-1988. Chris also enjoys golfing and fishing and is married and has one son and two daughters.

Claire Lloyd joined Seattle City Light in 2014 as executive engineering manager of substations. Her responsibilities include substations, protection, automation, security and City Light communications systems. She is the manager responsible for the new Denny Substation, Seattle City Light’s largest substation and the first built in over 30 years. Prior to joining Seattle, Claire worked at Tacoma Power in engineering and management positions responsible for generation, hatcheries, compliance, energy management and smart technology. Claire has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Washington. She enjoys scuba diving, skiing, hiking and running with her husband, daughter and son. Claire supports science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) development as a mentor in programs for middle and high school robotics teams.

Brittany Applestein Syz is Director of Clean Transportation San Diego Gas & Electric Company. She focuses on SDG&E’s electric vehicle infrastructure strategy. Prior to this role, she was Senior Counsel, Real Estate.

Prior to SDG&E she worked as General Counsel and VP of Business Development at Oberon Fuels, an alternative fuels producer. She developed and maintained partner relationships, assisted with product strategy, and analyzed new business opportunities. Before Oberon, Brittany practiced transactional law at Solomon Minton Cardinal LLP in San Diego and Morrison Foerster in San Francisco. She specialized in real estate and corporate transactional matters.

She continues uses her legal experience to work on pro bono cases regarding affordable housing, housing rights, and immigration rights. Brittany was awarded the 40 Under 40 by San Diego Metro in 2013 and a Top Young Attorney by the San Diego Daily Transcript in 2012. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University, obtained her master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and received her law degree cum laude from University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

I am a registered Professional Engineer and hold bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Psychology, both from the University of Manitoba. I am currently the Director of Engineering & Fleet Maintenance at ENMAX Energy Corporation overseeing maintenance engineering and major outage planning and execution for ENMAX’s combined cycle and simple cycle generating stations and district heating station. I joined ENMAX in February 2017.

Prior to joining ENMAX, I was with the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) for 9 years, most recently as the Director of Operations Planning & Engineering overseeing planning and engineering support for the operation of the Alberta electric transmission system, including power system restoration planning. While at the AESO, I also held the positions of Director of Transmission System Planning, Energy Strategy Program Director, and Director of Commercial Services.

Prior to joining the AESO, I spent nine years at Manitoba Hydro in a variety of engineering roles, including Thermal Maintenance Engineer, Reliability Centred Maintenance Engineer, Resource Evaluation Engineer, Export Market Analysis Engineer, and Section Head of Thermal Resource Evaluation.

I joined Dominion Energy (then Questar Gas) in 2011 as a Customer Care representative. I was most recently in the CIS Maintenance department where I helped to maintain and to improve the customer information/billing system, working closely with programmers, system business owners and those in technical support. In late 2017, I was given the opportunity to move to my current position, as a supervisor in the Customer Service Center. I supervise a few Customer Care representatives, but my main responsibilities are over the training and Quality Assurance department. We provide support and training for policies, procedures and systems for all incoming Customer Care representatives in order to provide the best and most efficient customer service for our customers. I received a dual BA in Journalism (with an emphasis on Public Relations) and Speech Communications from the University of Nevada, Reno and received my MBA in 2014. I am married to my best friend, Dillon, and together, we have two little boys, ages 2 and 5.

I have been employed with Asplundh Construction Corp since early 2014. I started as a Planner and designed for about eighteen months under our California clients. In late 2015, I joined Asplundh’s Special Projects division which gave me the opportunity to not only plan/design, but to also travel and expand Asplundh’s Planning territory with new utility partners. In October of 2016, I was given the opportunity to manage the front-line operation of Asplundh’s Special Projects Northwest Division, which is my current role. Prior to my employment with Asplundh, I worked (interned) for Southern California Edison Company in Logistics/Scheduling and Planning departments during my Junior/Senior years in High School. Upon graduation and two years in internship, I transitioned to a full-time Program/Project Analyst position in Planning, where I spent the following two years. I departed from the Company after nearly four years. I’ve been in the industry for about eight years.

Ken Murray joined Central Lincoln People’s Utility District in early 2013 and promoted within the year to his current position as Information Technology Supervisor. Prior to Central Lincoln, Ken spent nearly six years serving the local Lincoln County Government IT department, specializing in systems administration and standardized departmental processes. Ken started his career as a US Navy Pilot, serving both as a Strategic Command resource and Instructor Pilot. Ken is an Oregon State Alumni with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration – Management Information Systems.

With a career built on Government Service, Ken now enjoys having a direct impact on his community through the evolution and use of technology as a sustainable way to provide exceptional electric service while keeping rates low. Ken is happily married and has two daughters.

Steve has been with POWER Engineers for 17 years and has served in a variety of roles. He currently serves as a Project Manager for Electric Transmission and Distribution projects. His experience includes management, technical direction and coordination on transmission line and substation projects. His experience includes all facets of transmission line design at HV and EHV voltage levels, including conceptual routing studies, development of design criteria, detailed transmission line design for new and upgraded/reconductored lines along with thermal re-rating analysis, estimating, and expert testimony. Steve is a licensed professional engineer in several states and holds a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Idaho and an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Washington.

Suneel Singh joined the Southern California Gas Company in 1998. She started as a Region Associate Engineer in Gas Distribution. As a Region Associate Engineer she performed analysis on the Gas Distribution System, prepared engineering designs involving measurement and regulation, responded to emergency incidents within Technical Services. After two years, Suneel transferred to Measurement, Regulation, and Control and expanded her skills by conducting analysis to design regulator stations and meter-set-assemblies. Suneel has held positions in various departments over the years and is currently the Planning and Engineering Manager in Distribution Gas Operations. In this role, she manages the Northwest Region Capital Budget, provides leadership for the establishment of standards and specifications for pipeline systems, and components as well as policies and procedures for Company-wide compliance with State and Federal pipeline safety requirements. Furthermore, she provides engineering analysis and emergency response support for the pipeline system in Northwest Region. Suneel received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Faranak Sarbaz started her career with City of Los Angels in 1992, as an Electrical Enginner. She joined Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Water System, Projects Group in 2001. she transferred to Power System working in distribution in 2006, and was promoted as a Group Lead in Engineering Division, Major Projects. Faranak moved to Ttransmission Planning in 2008 to supervise LADWP System Planning. In April of 2018, she was promoted a Power Engineer Manager of Transmission Planning and Contracts, responsible for Long Term Transmission Assessment of High Voltage AC and DC system, and Contracts, compliance with State, City, and regulatory mandates related to Bulk Electric System, and coordinate the external Transmission Planning work for LADWP system with other utilities.
Faranak holds a Bachelor Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from CSULB, and a Master of Business Administration from USC.

Nicole Moreland joined Snohomish County Public Utility District in 2010 as an Energy Efficiency Program Manager. Her first assignment was to launch and manage an ARRA grant-funded, community-oriented energy efficiency program that focused on removing barriers to participation for “hard-to-reach” customers: small businesses, multi-family, and lower-income residential. In 2013, she helped create the Business Operations function within the Customer & Energy Services division and has served as its Manager since that time. Her team develops and manages the division’s annual budget, works with project leaders to develop a wide variety of contracts, manages energy efficiency reporting and audits by regulatory bodies, leads continuous improvement projects, and works closely with Finance, Accounting, Legal, Facilities, and others to meet the division’s business needs.

Earlier in her career, Nicole was a Project Manager opening new bookstores across the U.S. and internationally. Driven by a passion for sustainability, she then worked in commercial real estate development at a firm strongly committed to green building prior to joining Snohomish County PUD. She holds a BA in Biology from Reed College and an MBA from University of Washington. Each year she escapes the grey Pacific Northwest winter for a week, visiting family in San Diego where she grew up.

Lorraine is an Electrical Engineer with a Masters in Business Administration. She has been with Hydro One, an electricity transmission and distribution company, for over 13 years and is currently a Superintendent of Stations Services. In her role, she is responsible for over 100 field staff that in-service and maintain over 40 transformer stations and 300 distribution stations. She worked within several other functions within the organization including Engineering, Hydro One’s SAP implementation, Field Supervision, Technical Services, and Project Delivery where she was the Manager of Major Projects responsible for executing a $250M capital work program. In her free time she enjoys reading, playing basketball, and swimming.

Kumar Valsala is the Department Manager for the Transmission & Civil/Structural department of T&D Division in California. His responsibilities include managerial direction, business development and leadership of the Department, working directly with the T&D Operations Manager. Fifteen (15) Engineers spread across 3 office locations in California report to him and he is responsible for their career development and overall growth.

With a strong 12-year career path, Kumar’s experience includes the design and analysis of HV/EHV Overhead Transmission Line projects ranging from 60-kV up to 500-kV. He has contributed to the successful completion of transmission line projects from inception to construction including the design and analysis of new transmission lines and the reconductoring of existing transmission lines utilizing the modeling program PLS-CADD, structural analysis of steel lattice towers, steel and wood poles using the programs PLS-TOWER and PLS-POLE respectively.

Kumar graduated with a Masters in Civil Engineering in 2006 from the University of Kansas and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of California.