Unlocking a GEBs Future: Accelerating Coordinated Utility Programs: A Practitioners’ Perspectives Series

Kate works as a research manager at SEPA with a focus on utility business models and regulatory innovation. In addition, she is the staff co-lead for SEPA’s Energy Storage Working Group, and a team member of the Renovate Initiative, a collaborative effort focused on state regulatory process innovation. Previously at SEPA, she worked with the 51st State Initiative, shaping the evolution of the utility sector, and supported the engagement facilitating the D.C. Public Service Commission’s grid modernization (MEDSIS) initiative in the District.
Prior to SEPA, Kate completed her master’s degree from John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in International Relations & Economics, with a concentration in Energy, Resources & Environment. In addition, she completed a graduate consultant project for BP Global on the future of the U.S. transportation sector, as well as graduate internships at the Edison Foundation’s Institute for Electric Innovation (IEI), the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and Fresh Energy. Prior to SAIS, she worked in Kyoto-fu, Japan for the JET Programme, and was the development manager for Milkweed Editions, an independent book publisher based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University, with a B.A. in art history and political science. Kate has worked and lived in Japan, Italy, India, and South Africa, and is always planning her next adventure.

Ann Rendahl was appointed by Gov. Inslee in December 2014. She previously was the Director of Policy and Legislation for the UTC. 

Prior to leading the UTC’s Policy and Legislative Affairs Section, Ann served as the Director of the Administrative Law Division, as an administrative law judge for the UTC, and as an assistant attorney general representing the Utilities and Transportation Division. 

Ann currently serves on the Electricity and Critical Infrastructure Committees for the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC). She recently served as co-chair of NARUC’s Task Force on Transportation, focusing on railroad safety issues.   She serves as the vice-chair of the Body of State Regulators for the California ISO’s Energy Imbalance Market, having served as the chair from 2015 to 2017, and serves as a voting member of the EIM Nominating Committee. Ann also serves as the chair of the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS) Committee.

Ann is a graduate of Wellesley College and received a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. She received her law degree from Hastings College of the Law, University of California, San Francisco.