Hosted by TransmissionHub, a sister brand of T&D World
Thursday, June 24th, 2021 | 11AM ET/8AM PT
Panelists will discuss how the energy industry has handled the COVID-19 pandemic, and will share challenges met over the past year, lessons learned, as well as best practices going forward. Corina Rivera-Linares, TransmissionHub chief editor, will provide a high level overview of the market – including TransmissionHub project data – and moderate the panel discussion.
Speakers:
Corina Rivera-Linares
Corina Rivera-Linares, chief editor for TransmissionHub, has covered the U.S. power industry for the past 15 years. Before joining TransmissionHub, Corina covered renewable energy and environmental issues, as well as transmission, generation, regulation, legislation and ISO/RTO matters at SNL Financial. She has also covered such topics as health, politics, and education for weekly newspapers and national magazines.
Thad LeVar
Thad LeVar was originally appointed to the Public Service Commission of Utah in 2012 and was appointed Commission Chair in 2015. He was reappointed in 2021 by Governor Spencer J. Cox. Since his appointment as Chair the PSC has gone paperless and redesigned its internet presence, streamlined numerous administrative rules and processes, modernized its administration of Utah’s Universal Service Fund and Speech and Hearing Impaired program, made substantive updates to Utah’s PURPA requirements, implemented a new rate structure for customer generation, and initiated investigations into grid modernization and advanced rate design.
In addition to his duties at the PSC, Thad provides public service on the Member Advisory Committee for the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, the Body of State Regulators for the Western Energy Imbalance Market (of which he was an inaugural member), the Advisory Council to the Center for Public Utilities at New Mexico State University, and the Committee on Telecommunications of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He has done volunteer work with USAID to provide workshops to international regulators on topics including cross border electricity trading, flexibility of coal generation facilities, and natural gas infrastructure regulation.
Before his appointment to the PSC Thad served as deputy executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce, Director of the Division of Consumer Protection, administrative law judge, and associate general counsel to the Utah Legislature. He was a member of the steering committee for the Governor’s Office 2011 Utah Business Regulation Review, a project that resulted in over 300 changes to state government. Before attending law school Thad was a public school teacher in Texas and Arkansas.
Peter Colussy
Peter Colussy, Senior Manager of Regional Affairs at the California Independent System Operator, is responsible for cultivating and strengthening relationships with key stakeholders and regulatory staff in the western states, and developing market design and governance rules for emerging markets in the West. Peter was previously Manager of Market Operations at Xcel Energy, where he provided technical and policy support for trading operations, transmission analysis, and regulatory proceedings. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources from Colorado State University, and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver.
Chris Kelly
Chris Kelly is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the US Electric New England at National Grid, one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world. As COO, Chris oversees 2,000 employees and is responsible for the safe and reliable delivery of electricity across Massachusetts and Rhode Island. One of his top priorities is to lead the transformation of the electric distribution system. This transformation to a digitized, modern grid will enable a clean energy future while upholding network reliability and resiliency.
Chris has been with National Grid for over 30 years and has held other executive roles. He was the Senior Vice President of Electric Process and Engineering as well as the Vice President of Electric Systems Engineering. Earlier in his career, Chris was a technical leader in substation, protection, and telecommunications engineering in addition to electric operations. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University and his MBA from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Chris is also a licensed Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Carrie Zalewski
Carrie is a utility regulator, attorney, and trained engineer with over 15 years of experience in environmental and energy regulation with an extensive background in public utility regulation, environmental policy and compliance, wholesale power issues and policy, and corporate governance. Since joining the ICC, she has represented Illinois in national and international policy discussions in the energy regulatory space.
Carrie Zalewski was appointed Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission on April 15, 2019, by Governor JB Pritzker to a 5-year term. Chairman Zalewski came to the Commission from the Illinois Pollution Control Board where she had served since 2009. Before serving on the Illinois Pollution Board, Zalewski was Assistant Chief Counsel for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), and prior to that, Zalewski worked in private practice in litigation.
Chairman Zalewski is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' (NARUC) and serves on the Electricity and Consumer and Public Interest Committees. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Organization of MISO States and on the Advisory Board for the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, an arm of the Prairie Research Institute. Zalewski authored 2020 articles titled "Reflecting on 5 years of Supplier Diversity Spend by Illinois Utilities," published in Diversity Plus Magazine and "A Historic Effort in Illinois: Safeguarding Consumer Protections During Post-COVID Recovery," published in Energy Central News, and "Illinois Commerce Commission Chair promotes STEM for World STEM Day," published in the Daily Herald.
She earned her Juris Doctor at the Chicago-Kent Law School and her Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with one semester abroad in Durbin, South Africa.
