People In Power

“I stepped into the middle of the debate on whether we mandate a clean energy transition in Arizona. After four years of debate, we did not mandate it, but have supported the utilities’ commitments. They’re all 100% carbon-free by 2050.”

In discussions with ten Commissioners from every end of the country, PUF’s Paul Kjellander asked what’s driving the energy transition in their states, their state’s policies, barriers for the transition to overcome, and risks, also the role of consumer-owned energy. Sponsored by Itron.

“All Fusion Centers have access to relevant threat information that gets pushed out by the federal government, so I would highly encourage every utility to reach out to their Fusion Centers and see if there are ways they could partner with them on physical and cyber threats, if they aren’t doing so already.”

“We’ve not gone down the path of wanting to own and operate or develop our own charging sites. What we’ve wanted to do was let the market take care of that, and instead worked to support the market development.”

A roundtable with Holy Cross Energy’s Bryan Hannegan, SECO Energy’s Gregg Morrell, Rio Grande Electric Cooperative’s Abraham Vasquez, Block Island Utility District’s Jeffery Wright, and NRECA’s Angela Strickland.

“We would have challenging CEO meetings, to iron out differences. Tom provided a forum where CEOs could disagree on issues. Then he brokered dialogues where he was able to manifest everyone’s ideas, but at the same time, get the industry what it needed.”

“There is not enough time or space to list Tom’s achievements. Just think back to all the challenges that confronted the industry over all these years and recognize that Tom led us capably through them all.”

“Tom helped me understand the art of finding an acceptable solution for everybody even when positions would seem to indicate it was patently impossible. He was very good at that.”

“He’s a lion tamer and a task master, but not in a negative way, meaning he’s on task all the time. He knows what needs to be done, wants input from all his constituents, but nothing will stop him from getting done what needs to be done for the good of the industry.”

“Tom’s secret sauce is his ability to create relationships across such a wide array of personality types and viewpoints. That happened within industry, in Congress, several agencies, and in the states. His personality and demeanor enable him to create relationships and unity.”