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.