PORTLAND, Ore. – The Western Transmission Expansion Coalition, or WestTEC, has completed a major milestone in its organizational structure by selecting the members of its Regional Engagement Committee, or REC.
The REC is WestTEC’s primary stakeholder engagement group. It is responsible for reviewing proposals, scopes of work for technical studies and other deliverables, and for providing feedback and recommendations to the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is WestTEC’s primary decision-making body, working with and taking input from the REC and providing guidance to the WestTEC Assessment and Technical Taskforce, or WATT. Members of the Steering Committee and WATT have already been selected.
The REC’s members represent various industry sectors, including consumer-owned utilities, independent power producers, independent transmission companies, public interest organizations, consumer advocates and Tribes. To ensure continuity between committees, there are also four official representatives of the Steering Committee serving on the REC. (All members of the Steering Committee are invited to REC meetings.)
In response to stakeholder feedback, some REC industry sectors and number of representatives were changed from the original WestTEC concept paper. Some sectors were already well represented on the Steering Committee and were eliminated from the REC, and other sectors increased from two representatives to four. In another case, the state agency representative sector was determined not to be needed: States have resolved to engage with WestTEC through the Committee on Regional Electric Cooperation’s Transmission Collaborative or CREPC-TC. The CREPC-TC, which evolved from the Western States Transmission Initiative, is an informal CREPC working group focusing on regional transmission issues.
“We see the REC playing a critical role in WestTEC and appreciate the feedback that allowed us to get the appropriate membership in place,” said Sarah Edmonds, Western Power Pool President & CEO. “Having this last committee filled is a big step. We will bring the group together in the very near future so they can start their important work.”
Regional Engagement Committee Sectors and Members
Consumer-Owned Utilities
Chris Heimgartner, Whatcom County PUD
Matt Schroettnig, Northwest Requirements Utilities
Leslie James, Colorado River Energy Distributors Association
Connor Reiten, PNGC
Public Interest Organizations
Vijay Satyal, Western Resource Advocates
Angus Duncan, Natural Resources Defense Council
Eileen Quigley, Clean Energy Transition Institute
Mike Goetz, NW Energy Coalition
Ratepayer Advocacy Organization Representatives (residential and small commercial)
Anthony Ornales, Wyoming
Kanya Dorland, Public Advocates Office at the California Public Utilities Commission
Tribes
Donald Williams, From the Light Consulting LLC
Independent Transmission Companies
Gimod Mathew, Grid United
Robb Davis, GridLiance
Cameron Yourkowski, Pattern Energy
Sharon Segner, LS Power
Independent Power Producers
Tashiana Wangler, Avangrid Renewables
Noah Long, EDF Renewables
Gizelle Wray, Savion
Andrew Breyer, Aypa Power
Industrial Customer Representatives (large commercial)
Heidi Ratz, Clean Energy Buyers Association
Steering Committee Leadership
Kris Bremer, PacifiCorp
Todd Fridley, Public Service Company of New Mexico
Ravi Aggarwal, Bonneville Power Administration
Kris Raper, Western Electricity Coordinating Council
Other WestTEC Committees: Find more information on the WestTEC Steering Committee and WestTEC Assessment and Technical Taskforce (WATT), including a full list of members.
About WestTEC: The Western Transmission Expansion Coalition is a West-wide effort to develop an actionable transmission plan to support the needs of the future energy grid. WestTEC is committed to a new approach to transmission planning through the main themes of being different, inclusive and expedient. Western Power Pool serves as the facilitator for WestTEC and intends to hold quarterly public webinars to provide updates on the project.
Media contact: For more information, contact Kevin Langbaum at kevin@kblcommunications.com.