AGI DAY 2022

David Danner — Chair

Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission 

Gov. Jay Inslee appointed David Danner chair of the Utilities and Transportation Commission in February 2013 and re-appointed him to a second term in December 2018. 

Danner had been the agency’s executive director since 2005 and secretary since 2008. Before that, he served as executive policy advisor to Washington Gov. Gary Locke on energy, telecommunications, finance and elections issues. In 2004, Gov. Locke named Danner to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board and Shoreline Hearings Board, where he served before moving to the commission. 

Danner has also been a telecommunications attorney in private practice, counsel to the Washington Senate Energy and Utilities Committee, and senior policy advisor at the Washington State Department of Information Services.  

Danner serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and the National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI). He is Chair of the International Consortium of Energy Regulators, and a member of the State Technology Services Board and the Executive Council of the National Council on Energy Policy. He also serves on advisory boards of the Critical Consumer Issues Forum and the Center for Public Utilities at the New Mexico State University College of Business. 

Danner has a B.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. in communications from the University of Washington, and a law degree from George Washington University. 

Ann Rendahl — Commissioner

Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission 

Ann Rendahl was first appointed to serve as a commissioner of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission by Gov. Inslee in December 2014 for a six-year term ending Jan. 1, 2021. Ann has been reappointed and confirmed to a second six-year term ending Jan. 1, 2027.

Ann is a member of the Committee on Electricity and Critical Infrastructure Committee, prior chair of the Committee on Electricity, a member of the Executive Committee, and serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or NARUC.

Ann serves as a member of the Body of State Regulators for the California ISO’s Energy Imbalance Market. Ann has been appointed to serve as a member of the Electric Power Research Institute’s Advisory Council through August 2022 and has been appointed to serve on the Advisory Council of the Center for Public Utilities at New Mexico State University.

Ann previously served as the Director of Policy and Legislation for the UTC. Prior to leading the UTC’s Policy and Legislative Affairs Section, she 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 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.

Armando Berdiel — Technical Development and Project Manager for the Building Electrification team

Seattle City Light

Armando Berdiel is the Technical Development and Project Manager for the Building Electrification team at Seattle City Light. Previously working on promoting efficiency lighting projects through education and awareness, he is focusing now on identifying electrification emerging technology and best practices to develop and deliver on the team’s training curriculum as well as formalizing relationships with industry actors. Additionally, Armando plans in-person or virtual demonstrations, develops technical resources, conducts research, and catalyzes market transformation by engaging and converging trade allies, design allies, and end users.

From San Juan, Puerto Rico, Armando came to the United States where he received a B.S. in Computer Science and Business from Lehigh University then a Masters in Engineering Management from Penn State University. He began career in the lighting industry as a Systems Support Engineer for a lighting controls manufacturer, then transitioning to a lead Commercial Inside Sales role working with market partners across the nation and internationally. Armando later worked for a market partner of the manufacturer in the Northeast retrofit market, and has since been promoting efficiency and electrification transformation throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Jared Knode — Energy and Professional Services Manager

Energy Northwest

Jared Knode is currently the Energy and Professional Services Manager at Energy Northwest.  In this role, Jared manages the development of professional services and energy projects and programs for the Energy Services and Development division.  Jared holds a BA in Business Management/Finance and completed the Caterpillar/Bradley University Executive Development Program.  Jared joined Energy Northwest seven years ago, bringing 17 years of private industry experience including operations, leadership development, Human Resources, consulting and logistics experience. 

Larry Bekkedahl — Senior Vice President

Portland General Electric

Larry Bekkedahl is responsible for advancing PGE’s strategy to build the grid of the future — one that is resilient, smart, and delivers a clean energy future.

He oversees PGE’s strategic system architecture and system upgrades, which will serve as the foundation for the smart grid of the future. This includes initiatives related to system integration and operations, smart cities, enabling distributed energy resources, energy storage, dispatchable standby generation, transmission system performance and market interfaces, as well as research and development.

Bekkedahl joined PGE in 2014 as vice president of Transmission & Distribution. He has more than three decades of leadership experience in the energy industry. Before joining PGE, he was senior vice president for transmission services at the Bonneville Power Administration and held leadership positions at Clark Public Utilities, PacifiCorp and Montana Power Company.

He has a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Montana State University and serves on the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Research Advisory Committee, the Stanford University Bits and Watts Advisory Council, the University of Akron Energy Advisory Committee, and the All Hands Raised board for Portland Public Schools Foundation

John Zachary Gibson — Director of Avista’s Innovation Lab and Chief Research & Development Engineer

Avista

John Zachary Gibson, P.E., is Director of Avista’s Innovation Lab and Chief Research & Development Engineer at Avista, and leads the team that develops grid products and services for Avista’s electric and natural gas customers.

With more than 25 years of experience in the electric utility industry, Gibson is currently leading the development of a shared energy model called an eco-district, which uses a centralized plant to supply energy to multiple buildings in an area referred to as the “five smartest blocks” in Spokane, Wash. This innovative model could transform how the electric grid of the future operates and help reinvent the utility business model.

Gibson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical (BSEE) and civil engineering (BSCE), plus a Masters in Engineering Management. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Washington.

Nick Peretti — Substation electrical engineer

Snohomish County PUD
Nick Peretti – Substation electrical engineer for Snohomish County PUD from Central Washington University. Responsible for O&M project management for ~100 25-50 MW Substations. Special Projects/Responsibilities include: PRC-005 Battery Compliance, Substation inspections/maintenance/end-of-life, Energy Storage: Lithium Ion & Vanadium Flow, Arlington Microgrid (Solar + V2G + Lithium-ion Storage and Seamless transition islanding). Background in maintenance program development for critical electrical assets.

Jeff Dagle— Co-Director (AGI)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

Jeff Dagle has worked at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland Washington, operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), since 1989. During that time has had led numerous projects in the areas of transmission reliability and security. Recent project highlights include leading the North American SynchroPhasor Initiative (NASPI) and serving on the leadership team of the DOE Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium, leading the multi-laboratory system operations and control technical area. In 2018 Mr. Dagle was named co-director of the Advanced Grid Institute, a joint institute with Washington State University Other career accomplishments include leading the data requests and management task for the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force investigation of the August 14, 2003 blackout, supporting the DOE Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration Division with on-site assessments in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, leading the team providing cyber security reviews for the DOE Smart Grid Investment Grants and Smart Grid Demonstration Protections associated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and serving as a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) study group that was formed in 2010 to establish critical infrastructure resilience goals. In 2014 Mr. Dagle was invited to serve on a National Academies of Science and Engineering committee to provide recommendations for the analytical research foundations for the next generation electric grid. In 2016 he was invited to serve on another National Academy committee focused on enhancing the resilience of the Nation’s electricity system. And in 2019 he was invited to serve on a third National Academies study committee on the future of electric power in the United States. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a member of National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). He currently serves as the vice president for the eastern region of the Washington Society of Professional Engineers (WSPE). He received the 2001 Tri-City Engineer of the Year award by the WSPE, a Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Award in 2007, and two R&D 100 Awards: in 2008 for the Grid Friendly™ Appliance Controller technology, and in 2018 for the Dynamic Contingency Analysis Tool. He holds several patents. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Washington State University in 1989 and 1994, respectively, and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Washington.

Sandra Haynes — Chancellor

Washington State University Tri-Cities

Dr. Sandra Haynes is the 7th Chancellor of Washington State University Tri-Cities and brings more than20 years of successful, high-level administrative experience, stemming from leadership at both a doctoral-granting university with very high research activities (R1)and a regional comprehensive institution offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Dr. Haynes holds a faculty appointment as a professor in the Department of Psychology.Asa first-generation student, she recognizes the transformative power of higher education and its ability to be a true equalizer for individuals, regardless of life circumstances.

Dr. Haynes maintains a clear focus on excellence in academics, exceptional student support, and service to the community and industry, which in-turn enhances diversity, equity, and inclusion. She uses innovative, data-driven strategies to best fulfill the campus’ land-grant mission to serve regional industry needs through excellent education, research, and service.

Prior to her role as Chancellor ofWSU Tri-Cities, she served 17 years at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, including as Deputy Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College of Professional Studies.Through her service at both WSU Tri-Cities and MSU Denver, she has overseen the design and construction of three academic buildings and developed public/private partnerships to support regional development and growth

Steve Ashby — Director

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

Dr. Steven Ashby is Director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where he sets PNNL’s strategic direction and oversees it’s ~$1.5 billion R&D budget. Under his leadership, PNNL’s 5,300 talented staff members are advancing the frontiers of science, delivering technological innovations and driving solutions to market. As the nation’s premier chemistry, earth sciences, biology, and data science laboratory, PNNL is addressing the most pressing challenges in sustainable energy and national security. In particular, the Laboratory is providing national leadership in energy electrification and storage, and in nuclear materials and threat analysis – all for the purpose of keeping the U.S. safe, secure and prosperous.

Dr. Ashby previously served as PNNL’s Deputy Director for Science and Technology and was responsible for integrating PNNL’s science and technology capabilities to meet national needs. Toward that goal, he led institutional strategic planning activities, stewarded an $80M discretionary research portfolio, and promoted Laboratory-wide efforts to elevate PNNL’s standing in the broader scientific community. He also oversaw the Laboratory’s technology commercialization, government relations, and research integrity functions. He served as a member of DOE’s Laboratory Operations Board and was past chair of the DOE National Laboratory Chief Research Officers Working Group, which advises the National Laboratory Director’s Council on scientific and programmatic issues.

Before joining PNNL in 2008, Dr. Ashby spent nearly 21 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), ultimately serving as Deputy Principal Associate Director for Science and Technology. He previously oversaw the activities of the 500-person Computing Applications and Research Department. Dr. Ashby was the founding director of LLNL’s Center for Applied Scientific Computing, which was established in 1996 and has since matured into one of the world’s premier scientific computing research organizations.

Dr. Ashby is widely recognized as a leader in computational science and has worked to advance it as a discipline throughout his career. His research focused on computational mathematics and scalable numerical algorithms; he is considered an expert in polynomial iterative methods and adaptive preconditioning techniques for large sparse linear systems. He has published numerous papers, and he has worked in a variety of areas, including large-scale scientific simulation (with application to electromagnetics and subsurface flow and transport), numerical linear algebra, massively parallel computing, and applied computer and data sciences. He remains active in the computational science community, including participation in the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

Dr. Ashby is a Fellow of Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences; Commissioner for the Council on Competitiveness; and serves on advisory committee for local and state organization, including the Washington Roundtable.

He holds a B.S. in Mathematics/Computer Science from the University of Santa Clara. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Carl Imhoff — Manager, Electric Infrastructure Market

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

Mr. Imhoff manages the Electric Infrastructure research program at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. PNNL conducts fundamental and applied research as well as product development with the U.S. Department of Energy, other federal agencies and state governments. Responsible for PNNL’s research and development programs on innovations in the areas of advanced power transmission and distribution reliability concepts, demand response, integration concepts for distributed energy resources, all scales of clean energy supply, physical and cyber security of electric systems, policy and strategy for smart grid concepts, and cross-cutting grid analytic tools in visualization and high performance computing. Mr. Imhoff is the Laboratory Chair for the DOE Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium. This Consortium integrates national laboratories in support of the DOE Grid Modernization Initiative.