Debra Smith, former Seattle City Light CEO, added to Western Energy Markets Governing Body

FOLSOM, Calif. – The Western Energy Markets (WEM) Governing Body announced several key appointments during its meeting in Reno, Nevada today, including the addition of Debra Smith, former CEO of Seattle City Light, as a new member.

Rebecca Wagner, who has been a member of the Governing Body since July 1, 2023, was selected as the new chair. Wagner has nearly three decades of diverse experience in the energy sector and has been actively engaged in Western market issues for more than half that time. She is succeeding outgoing chair Rob Kondziolka. 

Andrew Campbell, whose term on the Governing Body was set to expire June 30, 2025, was reappointed for another three-year term and named vice chair.

New member Smith has been a respected leader in the utility sector for nearly 30 years and will fill the seat vacated by John Prescott, who has reached the WEM Governing Body’s three full-term limit. 

“Western Energy Market participants are fortunate to have such strong leaders in these important positions,” said Stacey Crowley, the California Independent System Operator’s vice president for external affairs. “We are grateful for their service, insight, and experience as stewards guiding the transformation of energy markets in the West.”

Wagner, the new chair, is a past member of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, a former director of the Nevada Office of Energy, and was energy advisor to former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn. She is a recognized leader in the evolution of Western energy market governance and participated on both the Western Energy Imbalance Market’s (WEIM) Governance Review Committee and the initial EIM Transitional Committee, serving as the vice chair and chair, respectively. Wagner’s term expires June 30, 2027.

Campbell was originally appointed to the WEM Governing Body in 2022 and was chair from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. He currently serves as executive director at the Energy Institute at Haas, the business school at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to his other lengthy experience, he held several high energy advisory and analyst positions at the California Public Utilities Commission.

Smith began her career in the energy sector at the Eugene Water and Electric Board in Oregon, where she went on to become its assistant general manager. In 2010, she became general manager of Central Lincoln PUD, a municipal utility in Oregon that covers a large service area along Oregon’s coastline.

In 2018, she became CEO at Seattle City Light, one of the nation’s largest municipal utilities. She served in that role for five years, leading Seattle City Light through a significant modernization program, before retiring in 2023. She is a respected voice in both regional and national energy issues. Campbell and Smith were appointed to three-year terms that end June 30, 2028.

Kondziolka, the Governing Body’s outgoing chair, was originally appointed in February 2020 and was named to a second term that expires June 30, 2027. He and Anita Decker round out the five-member body. 

The WEM Governing Body shares oversight of both the Western Energy Imbalance Market and development of the Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM), set to launch in 2026, with the ISO Board of Governors.

Started in 2014, the WEIM includes 22 balancing areas from across the West and has generated more than $7 billion in cumulative benefits to participating entities and their customers. The WEIM was designed to enable participants to buy and sell power close to the time electricity is consumed. With state-of-the art technology, the market finds and delivers lowest-cost resources to meet immediate power needs and manages congestion on transmission lines to maintain grid reliability.

Operated by the ISO, the WEIM includes portions of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, and extends to the border with Canada, and represents about 80% of the load within the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.

You can visit the westerneim.com website for more information about the Governing Body members, market participants, benefits reports, and initiatives. For more information on EDAM, visit our EDAM webpage.

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California ISO | 250 Outcropping Way | Folsom, CA 95630 | www.caiso.com

­­The California Independent System Operator (ISO) is a nonprofit public benefit corporation dedicated, with its partners, to continuous improvement and secure operation of a reliable grid operated for the benefit of consumers. It provides comprehensive grid planning, open and nondiscriminatory access to one of the largest networks of high-voltage transmission power lines in the world, and operates a $9 billion competitive electricity market. Recognizing the importance of the global climate challenge, the ISO is at the forefront of integrating renewable power and advanced technologies that will help provide a sustainable energy future efficiently and cleanly.

The Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) is a real-time wholesale energy trading market that enables participants anywhere in the West to buy and sell energy when needed. The Western Energy Markets Governing Body is the governing authority designed by regional stakeholders and has shared authority with the ISO Board of Governors to resolve rules specific to participation in the WEIM.