Our leadership

Elliot Mainzer

President and Chief Executive Officer

Elliot Mainzer is President and CEO of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) in Folsom, California. For the last 25 years, he has been a leader in helping to achieve a reliable and affordable clean energy transition by working to support innovation and creativity in renewable energy development, transmission planning, market design and regional collaboration.

Mainzer joined the CAISO on September 30, 2020 after an 18-year career at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), including seven years as Administrator and CEO. At BPA, he led efforts to unlock the wind-energy potential of the Pacific Northwest, managed the development of BPA’s open-season model for transmission subscription and queue management, and worked to balance the needs of the Federal Columbia River Power System with the welfare of tribal nations and salmon protection.

Under Mainzer’s leadership at the CAISO, the organization has strengthened coordinated power and transmission planning with California’s regulatory agencies, integrated record-setting amounts of new power generation and the nation’s largest fleet of lithium-ion batteries, helped preserve overall system reliability during the record-setting Western heat wave of September 2022 and provided strategic leadership and direction for the CAISO’s new extended day-ahead market proposal. Mainzer’s strong background and personal commitment to regional collaboration as an essential element of a reliable and affordable clean-energy transition have been a hallmark of his leadership at the CAISO, where he has also brought renewed focus on control center modernization, stakeholder engagement and program management in support of the organization’s new 2022-2026 strategic plan.

A native of San Francisco, Mainzer has an undergraduate degree in geography from U.C. Berkeley and master’s degrees in Business Administration and Environmental Management from Yale University. He is a senior fellow of the Oregon Chapter of the American Leadership Forum, has served on the boards of the Electric Power Research Institute and the Energy Systems Integration Group, and currently serves as co-chair of the Western Electric Industry Leaders Group.

He and his wife Margaret have twin boys. Among his non-professional pursuits, Mainzer is an amateur jazz saxophonist and dedicated student of jazz theory and history.

Mark Rothleder

Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
 

Mark Rothleder is the senior vice president and Chief Operating Officer at the California Independent System Operator (ISO), leading a multi-divisional management team that integrates market policy, planning, operations, technology and program management.

Mr. Rothleder previously served as the vice president of Market Policy and Performance, executive director of Market Analysis and Development, principal market developer, and director of Market Operations. As a member of the original start-up team in 1997, Mr. Rothleder is now the longest serving ISO employee.

In spring 2009, Mr. Rothleder led the design and implementation of market rules and software modifications for the ISO’s Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade (MRTU). During his career at the ISO, Mr. Rothleder has worked extensively to develop and incorporate the approved market rules for California’s competitive wholesale energy and reserves markets.

Prior to joining the ISO, Mr. Rothleder worked for eight years at Pacific Gas & Electric in its Electric Transmission Department where his responsibilities included operations engineering, transmission planning, and substation design.

Mr. Rothleder is a registered Professional Electrical Engineer in the state of California, and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the California State University, Sacramento. He has completed post-graduate coursework in Power System Engineering from Santa Clara University, and earned a Master’s in Science in Information Systems from the University of Phoenix.

Khaled Abdul-Rahman

Chief Information & Technology Officer

Dr. Khaled Abdul-Rahman is vice president and chief information & technology officer at the California Independent System Operator (ISO), where he oversees the integration of power system and market technology systems to implement policy initiatives and support operational needs under large penetration of renewable resources and other smart grid technology.

Dr. Abdul-Rahman previously served as the ISO’s vice president of Power Systems Market Technology. Prior to being promoted to vice president he served as the executive director of Power Systems and Smart Grid Technology Development where he managed the market software development for the ISO’s Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade (MRTU). He also managed and provided technical oversight for all issues related to the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) implementations, and the RC West’s look-ahead contingency analysis tools.

Prior to joining the ISO in 2009 as a principal in the Technology Department, Dr. Abdul-Rahman had a rich career history. He gained extensive national and international power system and electricity market experience having worked for Siemens, Energy Consulting Company International, Illinois Power Company, Open Access Technology International, and Oracle Corporation.

Dr. Abdul-Rahman earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL; and a Master’s of Science of Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor’s of Science of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Kuwait University in Kuwait.

Roger Collanton

Vice President, General Counsel

Roger Collanton is the Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary. Mr. Collanton serves as the chief legal officer and representative for the corporation in legal and regulatory matters and oversees all corporate compliance, governance and internal audit functions. Mr. Collanton also advises the Board of Governors on the application of federal, state and local law and provides guidance and advice on governance and corporate issues.

Prior to joining the ISO in January 2009, Mr. Collanton was a partner in the law firm of Morrison & Forester, LLP, in San Francisco where he represented clients in energy litigation matters, constitutional litigation, consumer class action defense, and various other business litigation matters.

Mr. Collanton is a member of the California Bar and has appeared in state and federal courts throughout California and the United States. He received a law degree from the University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1995.

Mr. Collanton received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from San Francisco State University in 1986. He became a Certified Public Accountant in 1987. Prior to law school, Mr. Collanton practiced as a certified public accountant with Price Waterhouse and was a corporate controller for a privately-held company.

Stacey Crowley

Vice President, External Affairs

Stacey Crowley is the Vice President of External Affairs for the California Independent System Operator (ISO). She is responsible for delivering the organization’s communications strategy, developing strategic partnerships and overseeing governmental relations at the state, regional and federal levels. She also manages coordination with the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) Governing Body and its committees to facilitate quality engagement and dialogue with stakeholders on a variety of western energy issues.

Ms. Crowley’s strength in developing partnerships and fostering consensus grew in her previous role as the Director of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy and advisor to Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. There, she helped define important energy opportunities in the state and worked to build enduring and effective regional partnerships. She implemented federal grant programs and economic incentive regulations for clean energy projects, served as Chair of the Western Interstate Energy Board and served on the board of the National Association of State Energy Officials.

She is also a former practicing architect who specialized in environmental sustainability and client engagement, and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from the University of Michigan and Masters of Architecture from the University of New Mexico. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Tahoe Fund, a non-profit dedicated to enhancing the extraordinary environment of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Anna McKenna

Vice President, Market Design and Analysis

Anna McKenna is the Vice President of Market Design and Analysis for the California Independent System Operator (ISO). She oversees the development of market and infrastructure policy, market performance analysis and validation, short-term forecasting and California regulatory affairs.

Ms. McKenna joined the ISO in 2005. Prior to her current role she served as regulatory assistant general counsel and successfully led and advised the ISO through numerous market and infrastructure policy changes, compliance matters, market performance and monitoring matters.

Prior to joining the ISO, Ms. McKenna was an attorney for a Washington, D.C. law firm, with a practice focused on energy market development and transmission congestion management policies. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics and industrial relations, and a Master’s degree in economics, both from McGill University in Montreal, Canada; and a Juris Doctor degree from the Washington College of Law, American University in Washington, D.C.

Neil Millar

Vice President, Transmission Planning & Infrastructure Development

Neil Millar, Vice President of Transmission Planning & Infrastructure Development at the California Independent System Operator (ISO), leads the division responsible for its transmission planning, infrastructure contracts, and generation interconnection processes.

Prior to joining the ISO in 2010, Mr. Millar was with Alberta’s Utilities Consumer Advocate, the Alberta Electric System Operator, and TransAlta Utilities, then a vertically integrated utility.

Mr. Millar is a Professional Engineer registered in Alberta, Canada. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan.

Ryan Seghesio

Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Ryan Seghesio is Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at the California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO). The division oversees all of the financial functions including: accounting, credit, financial planning and analysis, financial reporting, procurement, and treasury.

Prior to joining the ISO in 2010, Mr. Seghesio served as the Assistant Treasurer and Senior Director, Worldwide Investments at Oracle Corporation, where he oversaw global cash and investment management, foreign exchange, and global bank relationships. Previously, he held positions at the City of Sacramento Treasurer’s Office and Dean Witter Reynolds. Mr. Seghesio is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and a Master of Business Administration degree from the California State University, Sacramento.

Mr. Seghesio currently serves on the Financial Executives International Sacramento Chapter Board.

Joanne Serina

Vice President, Stakeholder Engagement and Customer Experience

Joanne Serina is the Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement & Customer Experience for the California Independent System Operator (ISO). She oversees all aspects of customer service, customer onboarding, readiness and training. She also facilitates quality engagement with stakeholders on market design and policy development.

Ms. Serina has served as Executive Director of Customer Service & Stakeholder Affairs since 2015 and previously held various senior leadership roles since joining the ISO in 2006 including positions within the Operations Division responsible for System Operations training and certification and as a Sr. Program Manager during the implementation of the California ISO Market.

Prior to her career in the energy industry, Joanne spent 12 years in the Information Technology sector developing innovative business solutions for Intel Corporation and managed product development for Pandesic LLC, an Intel subsidiary, delivering e-commerce solutions.

Joanne holds a bachelor’s degree from the Anderson School of Management, University of New Mexico and obtained her NERC certification in 2011.

Dede Subakti

Vice President, System Operations

Dede Subakti joined the California ISO in 2010, serving first as manager for operations planning. In 2012, he was promoted to his most recent position as director of operations for engineering services, in which he was responsible for operational engineering and support functions, including resource adequacy assessments, seasonal operating and outage coordination studies, and operating and reliability analyses.

He also supported the onboarding and day-to-day operations engineering for the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM), and RC West, the ISO’s reliability coordinator function for balancing authorities and transmission operators in the Western Interconnection.

Prior to joining the ISO, Subakti worked with OATI, Inc., a global energy solutions and software company, managing project development for various transmission system applications for transmission service providers in both the Western and Eastern Interconnections. Before that, he served as Manager of Regional Operations Engineering at the Midwest ISO (now Midcontinent ISO) where he managed real-time operations engineers providing control room operations support. Subakti also has worked with representatives of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) to develop reliability standards and support operation of the Western Interconnection.

He is a licensed professional engineer in Minnesota and a certified NERC System Operator. Subakti received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State University, with an emphasis in power systems. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State University.

Jodi Ziemathis

Vice President, Human Resources

In her role as Vice President of Human Resources, Jodi Ziemathis leads the development and implementation of the company’s people strategies.

Since joining the ISO in 2006, Ms. Ziemathis has held several leadership assignments in the human resources area, and has helped the organization build an intentional culture, strengthen leadership capabilities and drive high levels of employee engagement.

Ms. Ziemathis has more than two decades of human resources experience within the electric industry, with proven success driving high-quality people strategies and initiatives. Prior to joining the ISO, she was a Director of Human Resources with Calpine Corporation where she provided leadership on corporate recruiting and general human resources for a regional office. She is a graduate of San Jose State University and holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification.

Severin Borenstein - Chair

Severin Borenstein was reappointed to the ISO Board of Governors on December 31, 2024. Mr. Borenstein’s confirmation by the California Senate is pending.

Mr. Borenstein is E.T. Grether Professor of the Graduate School in Business Administration and Public Policy at the Haas School of Business, and Faculty Director of the Energy Institute at Haas, at University of California Berkeley. His research focuses on business competition, strategy, and regulation. He has published extensively on the electricity, natural gas and oil markets. Mr. Borenstein is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA. His current research projects include the economics of renewable energy, economic policies for reducing greenhouse gases, and alternative models of retail electricity pricing.

Mr. Borenstein’s awards and recognitions include the 2005 Distinguished Service Award from the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida; the Power Association of Northern California’s 2014 Achievement Award; the Industrial Organization Society’s 2015 Distinguished Fellow Award; and the International Association for Energy Economics’ 2015 Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Profession.

Mr. Borenstein received his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Economics from M.I.T.

Joe Eto - Vice Chair

Joseph H. Eto was appointed to the ISO Board of Governors on March 30, 2023. His term will expire on December 31, 2025.

Following a nearly 40-year career, Mr. Eto retired from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in 2021. He remains engaged with the Berkeley Lab through his collaboration with the Electricity Markets and Policy Department in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, and the Grid Integration Group in the Energy Storage and Demand Resources Division.

He has authored publications on electricity reliability, transmission planning and operations, demand response and distributed generation, utility integrated resource planning and demand-side management; and building energy-efficiency technologies.

Between 1999 and 2018, Mr. Eto led a consortium of national laboratories, universities, and private-sector partners to conduct public-interest research and analysis on electricity reliability and transmission technologies.

He also supported the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on a variety of electricity reliability-related assignments, including the National Transmission Grid Study, the U.S. - Canada investigation of the August 14, 2003 blackout, and DOE’s National Electric Transmission Congestion Studies.

Mr. Eto received his undergraduate degree in Philosophy and a M.S. in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a registered professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of California.

Angelina Galiteva

Gov. Gavin Newsom reappointed Angelina Galiteva on February 21, 2023 to a fifth term on the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Board of Governors that expires on December 31, 2025. She was confirmed by the state Senate on Sept. 1, 2023.

Ms. Galiteva is currently President for NEOptions, Inc., a renewable energy and new technology product design and project development firm. Her industry experience includes serving as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and head of its Green LA, Environmental Affairs and New Product Development Organization. While at the municipal utility, she was responsible for strategic positioning and the environmental compliance departments. Her career includes working with the California ISO and Power Exchange on their initial launches and she also worked as a power analyst for the New York Power Authority.

Ms. Galiteva graduated from Pace University School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 1993 and a LL.M. degree in 1994 in Environmental and Energy Law. She specialized in electric utility strategic policy analysis and decision-making focusing on pending industry transition and deregulation issues.

Ms. Galiteva works to advance the deployment of renewable energy and distributed energy technologies worldwide. She also serves as Chairperson of the World Council for Renewable Energy, where she is one of the spokespersons, among other duties.

Mary Leslie

Gov. Gavin Newsom reappointed Mary Leslie to the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Board of Governors in February 2024, for a term that expires on December 31, 2026.

Ms. Leslie has served as president of Los Angeles Business Council since 2001, growing the council into a prominent organization that works with business, government, and non-profit organizations to enact policies and programs that strengthen Los Angeles’ economy and quality of life. She also currently serves on the LA Sustainability Leadership Council, UCLA Advisory Committee for the Luskin Center for Innovation, LA Cleantech Incubator, and is a member of the Pacific Council of International Policy.

Ms. Leslie was deputy mayor for the City of Los Angeles under Mayor Richard Riordan and a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commissioner under Mayor James Hahn. She was previously deputy director of the U.S. Small Business Administration and executive director of the California Economic Development Commission.

Ms. Leslie earned a bachelor's degree from University of Santa Clara, and a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. She also attended the Executive Management Program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Jan Schori

Jan Schori was reappointed to the ISO Board of Governors on December 31, 2024. Ms. Schori’s confirmation by the California Senate is pending.

Ms. Schori brings an impressive record of executive leadership in the electric utility industry, particularly in the areas of public policy, operations, and reliability expertise to the California Independent System Operator (ISO).

She began her professional career with Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) as an attorney in 1979. Ms. Schori spent 15 years on the legal team at SMUD and held the role of General Counsel and Secretary for six years.

In 1994, Ms. Schori was promoted to general manager and chief executive officer and held that role for more than 14 years, making her the longest serving CEO in SMUD's history.

During her tenure as CEO, SMUD earned a reputation for renewable energy commitment, strong energy efficiency programs, and was ranked first in the country for commercial customer satisfaction by JD Power & Associates.

After retirement from SMUD, Ms. Schori was elected in 2009 to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) board as an independent trustee. NERC is responsible for setting and enforcing standards to ensure the reliability of the US and Canadian bulk power grid. She served for 12 years, including as chair of the Nominating, Finance and Audit, Compliance, and Corporate Governance/Human Resources Committees, and the Technology/Security and Enterprise Risk Committees.

While at SMUD, she chaired the American Public Power Association (APPA), the Large Public Power Council, the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA), and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, and served on the Board of the Alliance to Save Energy.

Subsequent to retiring, she chaired Valley Vision, a civic leadership nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life in the Sacramento region, and served on the boards of CalCEF Ventures and CalCEF Innovations, which are involved in the advancement of clean energy technologies and financial products.

She continues to serve on the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) Board of Directors as a board and executive committee member and Audit Committee chair. CAR develops protocols and tracks greenhouse gas reduction projects and has been certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as an independent registry for AB 32 compliance credits.

Rebecca Wagner - Chair

Rebecca Wagner has 26 years of experience in the energy sector including geothermal project development and operations, state government, and consulting.

Throughout her career, Ms. Wagner has worked to advance public policy supporting clean energy and climate policy that coincides with strong economic opportunities and grid reliability.

Prior to joining the Western Energy Imbalance (WEIM) Governing Body, she served as the vice-chair of the WIEM Governance Review Committee which recommended changes to governance structure of WEIM and the future Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM). Ms. Wagner also served as the chair of the Western EIM Transitional Committee which recommended the foundational governance structure for real-time energy market’s launch in 2014.

In 2006, Ms. Wagner was appointed to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada where she served as a commissioner for nearly a decade. During her tenure as a regulator, Ms. Wagner served on the Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Board, the United States Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee, and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.

In 2005, Ms. Wagner was the director of the Nevada’s Office of Energy, and was the energy advisor to Governor Kenny Guinn.

Following her service in the public sector, Ms. Wagner established a consulting business in 2015 that focused on energy policy, regulatory affairs, and strategy development.

Ms. Wagner earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Nevada-Reno. She is based in Reno, Nevada where she enjoys golfing, hiking, and skiing.

Ms. Wagner was appointed to the WEIM Governing Body effective July 1, 2024, for a term ending June 30, 2027.

Andrew Campbell - Vice Chair

Andrew Campbell is Executive Director of the Energy Institute at Haas at the University of 
California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the Western Energy Markets (WEM) Governing Body, 
he was a member of the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) Governance Review 
Committee, which recommended the adoption of a shared-governance framework with the 
California Independent System Operator Board of Governors over issues applicable to the 
WEIM. That governance framework was adopted by the WEM Governing Body and ISO 
Board of Governors in September 2021.

At the Energy Institute, Mr. Campbell serves as a bridge between the research community,
and business and policy leaders on energy economics and policy topics. Prior to arriving at 
UC Berkeley, Mr. Campbell worked for residential energy management company, Tendril, 
and grid sensor provider, Sentient Energy, helping both companies navigate the energy 
regulatory environment and tailor their products to meet the utility industry’s needs.

For five years Mr. Campbell served as an advisor to California Public Utilities 
Commissioners Rachelle Chong and Nancy Ryan where he successfully led efforts to 
adopt policies on grid modernization investments and data access; regulatory authority 
over electric vehicle charging; demand response; dynamic pricing for utilities; and quality 
standards for liquefied natural gas. Mr. Campbell has also worked in Citigroup’s Global 
Energy Group, and as a reservoir engineer with ExxonMobil. 

Mr. Campbell earned bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and economics from Rice 
University, and a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. He lives in 
Oakland, Calif. where he pursues his passion to create a safer and more equitable 
environment for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Mr. Campbell was appointed to the WEM Governing Body effective July 1, 2022, and 
reappointed July 1, 2025, for a term ending June 30, 2028.

Anita Decker

Anita J. Decker retired in 2019 and has over 43 years of experience in the electric utility industry. She was the executive director of the Northwest Public Power Association from 2014 to 2019 where she led the association's work in people development, legislative and regulatory advocacy and communication for more than 150 public/people's utility districts, electric cooperatives, municipalities and crown corporations in nine Western states and British Columbia.

From 2007 to 2014, she served as chief operating officer for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) including a stint as the acting administrator for the Western Area Power Administration. She was responsible for BPA’s Power Services; Transmission Services; Environment, Fish & Wildlife; and Internal Business Services.

Prior to BPA, Ms. Decker spent 27 years with PacifiCorp, holding positions in Oregon, Wyoming and Utah rising to the role of business unit vice president. She spent 19 years in field operations, customer service, transmission/distribution construction and maintenance, sales and marketing, and energy conservation.

Ms. Decker holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Utah Valley University, and certificates from Wharton School of Business Senior Business Leadership, and Advanced Management Program INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

Ms. Decker was appointed to the EIM Governing Body on September 1, 2019. She was reappointed in June 2023 to a third term ending June 30, 2026

Robert Kondziolka

Robert Kondziolka was initially appointed to serve on the WEIM Governing Body on February 1, 2020, to a term ending June 30, 2021. He was reappointed and approved to serve a full term of July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027. During this term he served as the Governing Body Chair and Vice Chair. Mr. Kondziolka also serves as an executive consultant to North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

Mr. Kondziolka retired in 2019 after more than 40 years in the electric industry. At the time of retirement, he was the management consultant for Grid Resiliency and Security with Salt River Project. Throughout his career, Mr. Kondziolka served as Salt River Project’s director of Transmission Line Design, Construction & Maintenance, director of Power Delivery Engineering, director of Transmission & Generation Operations, executive manager of Transmission Planning and Development, manager of Transmission Line Design, project engineer for the Mead Phoenix Project, and supervisor for Transmission Line Structural and Geotechnical Engineering. He was also a senior engineer at Salt River Project and design engineer at Tucson Electric Power Company specializing in all aspects of transmission line design and development.

Mr. Kondziolka’s recent industry leadership includes chairman of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) Member Advisory Committee; co-chair of the Joint North American Transmission Forum and INPO Nuclear Power Plant and Transmission Grid Interface Identification Group; chair of the Arizona Nuclear Power Project High Voltage Switchyard & Transmission System, Mead-Phoenix Project and Southwest Valley Project Engineering and Operating Committees.

Additionally, he served as chair of the Southwest Variable Energy Resource Initiative, chair of the Southwest Area Transmission Sub regional Transmission Group, representative to WECC Transmission Expansion Planning Policy Committee, lead on the development of and representative to the West Connect Planning Committee, chair of WECC Joint Guidance Committee, chair of the U.S. Department of Energy Western Congestion Analysis Task Force, vice-chair of the WECC Planning Coordination Committee, board member of the Arizona Independent Scheduling Administrator Association and board member of the Phoenix chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He initiated, led or was part of the formation team responsible for the development and implementation of many of the industry groups with which he has been involved.

Mr. Kondziolka graduated from the University of Arizona in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and is a registered professional Civil Engineer in the State of Arizona.

Deborah Smith

Deborah J. Smith retired in 2023 after nearly 30 years in the electric utility industry, all 
of it dedicated to public power. Most recently, she served as General Manager and 
CEO of Seattle City Light, one of the nation’s largest community-owned electric utilities. 
Under her leadership, City Light advanced vehicle electrification, strengthened publicprivate partnerships, and fostered a more equitable energy future for Seattle.

Prior to Seattle City Light, Ms. Smith was General Manager of Central Lincoln Public 
Utilities District and spent 17 years at Eugene Water & Electric Board in various 
leadership roles, including Assistant General Manager. She holds a finance degree 
from Arizona State University and has served as the first female chair of the Public 
Power Council, as well as on the boards of Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference 
Committee, Electric Power Research Institute, and the American Public Power 
Association. She remains active on the Pacific Northwest National Lab advisory 
committee and the Renewable Energy Scholarship Fund.

As a consultant, Ms. Smith has advised clients on decarbonization strategies, 
renewable energy, and wildfire mitigation. She also served on the board of the Western 
Transmission Consortium and the Customer Advisory Council for a renewable energy 
company. A champion of transparency, accountability, and collaboration, Ms. Smith 
prioritizes customer needs while recognizing that great service starts with engaged 
employees.

Ms. Smith lives in Eugene, Oregon where she most enjoys spending time with her 
extended family – husband Dale, their five grown kids and three grandsons. Life is 
busy and wonderful.

Ms. Smith was appointed to the Western Energy Markets Governing Body effective
July 1, 2025, for a term ending June 30, 2028.