Board of Directors

Chair

Ms. Jackson leads the System Strategy and Planning organization for Xcel Energy. This is a new organization that focuses on integrated system planning, including strategically planning generation, transmission and distribution of Xcel’s electric and natural gas systems. Since joining Xcel Energy in 2011, Alice has held various positions of increasing responsibility. Directly prior to her role as Senior Vice President, Ms. Jackson led the Operating Company team for Public Service Company of Colorado as President. In this role she was responsible for the community, legislative, regulatory activities and held responsibility for delivering on corporate financial outcomes and objectives for Xcel Energy – Colorado. Prior to her executive leadership roles within Xcel Energy, Alice held various regulatory positions with Southwestern Public Service Company in Texas and with Public Service Company of Colorado.

Before her time with Xcel Energy, Alice spent nearly 10 years with Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy) managing the nationwide energy needs of this large industrial consumer. In Alice’s early roles with Oxy, she utilized her information technology background and technical acumen to provide software development and systems support to various trading activities as well as electric market deregulation. Through her involvement in the federal and state electric markets, multiple rate cases, and interaction with customers, large and small, Alice developed a unique perspective for utilities and their contributions to society.

As if having a full-time career, being married to her high school sweetheart and having four sons is not enough of an adventure in life, in 2017 Alice completed the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard University. Alice earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Texas A&M University.

Bryan Hannegan is President and CEO of Holy Cross Energy, a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative utility providing electricity and energy products and services to more than 42,000 customers in Western Colorado. Prior to joining Holy Cross in July 2017, Bryan was an Associate Laboratory Director at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where he co-founded the US Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Initiative and started up the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF), a unique “distribution grid in a box” enabling utilities, entrepreneurs and consumers to work together on cleaner, more affordable and more reliable energy systems. Earlier in his career, Bryan held senior leadership roles at the Electric Power Research Institute, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Caroline Choi is senior vice president of Corporate Affairs for Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, and its parent company, Edison International. Choi is responsible for overseeing Government Affairs, Public Affairs, and Corporate Communications on national, state, and local levels.

Previously, Choi served as senior vice president of Regulatory Affairs at SCE. In this role, she was responsible for the company’s regulatory strategy and policy at the national and state levels, including regulatory affairs, regulatory operations and environmental affairs.

Choi previously was vice president of Energy and Environmental Policy at SCE, where she oversaw the analysis of federal and state energy and environmental policies; development of a long-term environmental, energy and technology strategy for SCE; and management of regulatory efforts at the California Public Utilities Commission and other state energy and environmental agencies.

Before joining SCE in 2012, Caroline was executive director of Environmental Services & Strategy at Progress Energy, where she was responsible for leading environmental permitting, compliance and policy. She served the company in various roles, including director, Energy Policy and Strategy and manager, Federal Public Affairs.

Choi is active in national policy and community engagement, where she serves on the executive board of the Smart Electric Power Alliance, a nationwide organization that supports utilities in the implementation and deployment of clean energy and distributed resources. She also serves on the boards of the Alliance for Transportation Electrification and the National Forest Foundation. Choi holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College.

Chris leads strategy and execution of Amazon’s commitment to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2025 and net zero carbon throughout the company’s real estate portfolio by 2040. This commitment is part of The Climate Pledge, a commitment by Amazon to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early. Prior to Amazon, Chris led energy, water, and sustainable building initiatives within Boeing’s real estate operations, and has 15 years’ experience driving initiatives in corporate energy and sustainability. Chris has a Master’s degree in Engineering from Cambridge University, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, and is also on the board of the Smart Building Center in Seattle.

Debra Smith is the General Manager and CEO of Seattle City Light, one of the nation’s largest community-owned electric utilities. City Light serves more than 480,000 meters and 955,000 people across Seattle, parts of eight surrounding communities and unincorporated King County.

Debra believes in transparency, accountability, and intentionality as well as the value of teamwork, partnerships, and collaboration. As a long-term public employee, she prioritizes customer needs while acknowledging that great customer service starts with engaged and committed employees. Under her leadership, City Light is focused on electrification, equity and improving the customer experience.

Previously, Debra served as Central Lincoln PUD’s General Manager from July 2013 to October 2018. She brought 17 years of experience to that role from the Eugene Water and Electric Board, where she held a variety of positions, including Assistant General Manager. Debra earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Arizona State University and she served as the first Chairwoman of the Public Power Council (PPC). Currently, Debra serves as Vice Chair of Long-Range Planning for PPC, and is on the board of the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC), the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), the American Public Power Association (APPA) as well as APPA’’s Climate Change Task Force, the Large Public Power Council’s Steering Committee, Puget Sound Energy’s Beyond Net Zero Advisory Committee, the Columbia Basin Collaborative, and the Pacific Northwest National Lab’s Energy and Environment Directorate Advisory Committee.

Debra and her husband Dale have raised three sons and two daughters. They love city life and are committed to being part of downtown Seattle’s post-pandemic recovery. They also have a home in Eugene, Oregon where three of their kids live as well as their six-year-old grandson Oliver, and his soon to be new baby brother. In her spare time – there really isn’t any – Debra enjoys travel, time with friends and family, and hanging out on her and Dale’s favorite pandemic purchase – their pontoon boat/party barge.

Hannah serves as the VP of Regulated Business at SPAN, where she leads policy, market development and partnerships to enable residential electrification and a more flexible and resilient grid.

Previously, Hannah was the Head of Energy Partnerships at Google Nest. She joined Nest in 2014, growing the energy business from the ground up – delivering energy savings, demand response, and customer engagement that set the foundation for the future of the grid. After Nest’s integration with Google, Hannah focused on product and service partnerships for Nest Renew, setting the stage for new offerings across the energy ecosystem including with third party OEMs.

Prior to joining Nest, Hannah spent time at PG&E, consulting and the nonprofit space. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and a BA with Honors from Brown University.

Jeff Guldner leads Pinnacle West Capital Corporation and its primary subsidiary, Arizona Public Service Company (APS). The companies are headquartered in Phoenix. Guldner was promoted to his current position in November 2019 from his dual roles as president of APS and executive vice president, public policy of Pinnacle West. Since joining APS in 2004, Guldner has held a number of leadership positions responsible for areas including legal, rates and regulation, government affairs and customer service. He is also on the Board of Directors for Nuclear Energy Institute, Edison Electric Institute, and Institute of Nuclear Operations.

Executive Committee

Jim Alberts, Senior Vice President for Customer Service at Hawaiian Electric Company, spearheads the utility’s integration of distributed energy resources to help reach Hawaii’s mandate to run 100 percent on renewables by 2045. Jim joined Hawaiian Electric in 2012 as the Senior Vice President of Customer Service, coming to the company with more than 20 years of utility experience at Kansas City Power & Light and Aquila.

During his career, Jim has led teams and designed and implemented programs that focused on establishing top quality customer service and efficiency. While at KCP&L and Aquila as the Vice President of Customer Service, he was responsible for all customer contact channels, customer relations, quality assurance, e-services, billing, accounts receivable management, field services and meter reading. While at Aquila, he was a Lean Six Sigma Deployment Champion and certified Black Belt leading improvement teams across the Company.

He serves as a Board member of Hospice Hawaii, a non-profit organization dedicated to bring hope, reduce fears and impact lives in end-of-life care, and on the Hawaii Employers Council Board of Governors. Jim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Minnesota State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Drake University.

B.S. Chemistry, Southern Utah University
M.S. and Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, Washington State University

Dr. Joe Hoagland is vice president of Innovation and Research for the Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporate agency of the United States government and the largest public power provider in the country. With 30 years of experience shaping the direction of the power sector, Dr. Hoagland is an industry thought leader with extensive experience in strategy, research and development, implementation, and the evolving energy marketplace.

He currently leads and guides a team of technology professionals who conduct transformational research and manage innovation projects for TVA’s Power System of the Future – an effort that helps diverse power systems to meet shifting consumer and business power demands without compromising reliability, resiliency, or customer experience. At the same time, Dr. Hoagland and his team are exploring cost-effective carbon reductions with new forms of generation and the electrification of the broader economy that includes advances in electric transportation, solar power/battery storage, and advanced nuclear generation technologies.

Dr. Hoagland has extensive experience with strategic utility planning and stakeholder engagement, leading from inception to publication of TVA’s three recent Integrated Resources Plans – a comprehensive study that provides direction on how TVA can best meet future electricity demand over the next 20 years. Previous leadership roles include development of environmental policies, research and development strategies, retail regulation and utility policies, directing energy efficiency and demand response programs, and building effective stakeholder and customer relations.

Dr. Hoagland is a Fellow for Energy Policy at the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy; Chair for the state of Tennessee’s Energy Policy Council; and a member of the board of directors of the Smart Electric Power Association. He recently was Chair of the Electric Power Research Institute‘s Executive Resource Advisory Committee.

Dr. Hoagland also has served on boards and committees for various industry and related organizations that include the Edison Electric Institute, Electricity Storage Association, and the Department of Energy.

Executive Committee

Linda is the Chief Customer Officer for the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC), the 14th largest public power utility in the United States. As a member of OUC’s Executive Team, Linda is focused on achieving OUC’s goal of being the “Best Utility in the Nation” and Orlando’s recognition as the “Greenest City in the Southeast” through envisioning and delivering excellence in customer experience for today and tomorrow, balanced with weaving sustainability into everything OUC does, and delivering innovative products and services that benefit our customers and community. In this role, Linda leads the Customer Service, enterprise-wide Strategy, Sustainability & Conservation, Emerging Technologies, Marketing, Communication, & Community Relations organizations.

Linda previously served as President and Commissioner on the Orlando Utilities Commission board. Ferrone was Vice President and Market Leader for the Florida offices of The North Highland Company, a global, employee-owned consulting firm that delivers strategic business solutions to Fortune 1000 clients, government agencies and non-profits. Before that, she served in leadership positions with Ernst & Young, Pepsico, and Radiant Systems.

Linda is an active speaker on sustainability, innovation, leadership, and women in business topics and a recognized business leader with more than 25 years of experience working with utilities, entertainment, hospitality, and consumer products companies. Linda has been recognized with numerous national and local awards. She is passionate about serving her community and has extensive board leadership experience with organizations including the Orlando Science Center, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), the Mennello Museum of American Art, United Arts of Central Florida, and YMCA. Ferrone earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from The Ohio State University.

Mari McClure is President and CEO of Green Mountain Power (GMP), an industry-leading clean energy company based in Colchester, Vermont that leverages pioneering innovation programs to reduce costs and carbon emissions while delivering cost-effective, reliable power to Vermonters. Mari stepped into her current role at the start of 2020 after ten years with GMP leading transformational work across the company by building strong teams, balancing skills, and motivating employees to serve customers.

Muffi Ghadiali brings over 20 years of product leadership in the technology sector with executive roles at companies like ChargePoint, Amazon, Ouya, Synaptics. He leads the vision, strategy, and delivery of Electriphi’s full suite of software services for fleet electrification.

Nominating Committee Chair

Paul Lau, who previously served as SMUD’s Chief Grid Strategy & Operations Officer, was named Chief Executive Officer & General Manager in October, 2020. He reports to the SMUD Board of Directors. As CEO, he leads the sixth largest community-owned electric utility in the nation serving a population of 1.5 million residents and managing a $1.7 billion budget.

As Chief Grid Strategy & Operations Officer, Lau was responsible for the operations of SMUD’s power markets, transmission and distribution grids, including the Balancing Authority of Northern California, the development of a holistic smart grid strategy and SMUD’s research and development programs. In this role, he served as executive sponsor for SMUD’s deployment of advanced metering infrastructure and smart grid initiatives.

A 38-year SMUD veteran, Lau has held several other executive leadership positions, including Assistant General Manager of Power Supply & Grid Operations and as the Assistant General Manager of Customer, Distribution & Technology.

Lau serves on the boards of the Large Public Power Council, the California Municipal Utilities Association, the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, the Smart Electric Power Alliance and the Electric Transportation Community Development Corporation and as a Commissioner of the Balancing Authority of Northern California. He serves on the boards of a number of Sacramento-area community organizations, including the University Foundation at Sacramento State, where he also serves as Treasurer, and Los Rios Colleges Foundation. He serves as Director-at-Large and is Past Chair of the Sacramento Asian Chamber of Commerce.

Active in international energy issues, Lau serves as a delegate with the United States Energy Association, where he has helped with electrification, operations and demand-side management in countries such as Bangladesh, India and Jordan.

A registered professional electrical engineer in the state of California, Lau received his bachelor’s degree in electrical power engineering from California State University, Sacramento. He also is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum.

Secretary

Dr. Peter Muhoro is the Chief Strategy, Technology & Innovation Officer for REC and the Vice President
and General Manager of RE Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Cooperative. Peter is
responsible for developing and monitoring long-term strategies related to the Cooperative’s technology
systems, new service offerings to the membership and business planning. Strategies developed under
his leadership will include a technology strategy that addresses not only the Cooperative’s needs of
today, but more importantly, the information, distributed generation, clean energy, emerging
technologies and advanced electrification needs of tomorrow.

Peter is an accomplished electric utility executive with over 15 years of experience in the energy
industry. In his most recent role as Vice President of Strategic Industry Research and Analysis at National
Rural Utilities Finance Corporation (CFC), Peter led research activities, provided strategic leadership, and
consulted with electric cooperative leadership and board members on trends, technologies and the
future of electric cooperatives.

Over the course of his career, Peter held several positions working for, and with electric cooperatives.
He served as the Chief Strategy Officer at Pedernales Electric Cooperative, the largest distribution
electric cooperative in the U.S. Prior to that he was an Advisor at the Cooperative Research Network, the
technology research arm of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He has previously
launched several small businesses focused on energy analysis, bottom of the pyramid issues and poverty
reduction through efficient electrification. He serves on the board of the Smart Electric Power Alliance,
as well as other advisory committees. He is a sought-after speaker both nationally and internationally.
Peter holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics from Hampton University, a Master of
Science and Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of Michigan.

REC provides electric service to over 170,000 connections in parts of 22 Virginia counties. With its
general office in Fredericksburg, Va., the Cooperative operates and maintains more than 17,000 miles of
power lines through its service area, which ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the tidal waters of
the Chesapeake Bay. For more information about REC, please visit www.myrec.coop. Follow REC on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Treasurer

Seth Frader-Thompson co-founded EnergyHub in 2007 and continues to serve as its President. Under his leadership, the company has become a leading provider of both utility-installed and Bring Your Own Thermostat demand response services. EnergyHub offers utilities end-to-end demand response program management, including program design, installation, marketing and customer support services, as well as EnergyHub’s Mercury software platform for device control, with the goal of enabling both utilities and consumers to benefit from participation in DR and DER programs. Simultaneously, EnergyHub works with the leading device manufacturers and home services companies to bring their customers into utility programs.

Seth is a frequent speaker on demand response and connected home issues and is a board member of the Association for Demand Response & Smart Grid. Prior to founding EnergyHub, Seth served in several managerial and technical roles at Honeybee Robotics. During his tenure at Honeybee Robotics, he worked on robotics projects for NASA and developed bomb-disposal robots for the military. He was the principal investigator for a DARPA research effort to build a miniature laser vision system for search and rescue robots.
Seth has a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado, where his research focused on Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) for Ultracold Atom Optics.