Maria Pope

Senior VP of power supply, Portland General Electric

Balancing Challenges - Tools to integrate Renewable Resources

Maria Pope serves as SVP of Power Supply, Operations and Resource Strategy for Portland General Electric, Oregon largest utility, serving approximately half the state population and three-quarters of its commercial and industrial sectors.  Pope is responsible for the company generation fleet, wholesale electricity and gas trading, new plant construction and engineering, environmental affairs, resource planning and regional coordination.  Prior to her appointment in 2013, Pope was the company Chief Financial Officer.  Pope is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and earned her bachelor degree from Georgetown University

IEEE-Northwest Energy Systems Symposium

University of Washington

Seattle, WA 98195

April 30-May 1, 2014

Abstract: In 2012, a group of member utilities in the Northwest Power Pool established a Market Assessment and Coordination (MC) Initiative to further regional coordination and collaboration on identifying solutions for long standing Balancing Authority (BA) challenges. Recently, the MC Initiative entered the third phase of analysis and implementation. Utilities are working to address some of the critical reliability coordination needs as well as taking steps toward creating a bilateral market for balancing capacity. This panel brings together three leaders that have been involved in helping the region collaborate and address BA operational improvements. Elliot Mainzer, BPA Administrator, manages the organization with the largest transmission footprint in the region. Maria Pope, Senior Vice President at Portland General Electric manages the large Oregon investor-owned utility power supply. Robert Cromwell, Seattle City Light Director of Power Contracts and Resource Acquisition, manages the utility power and transmission resources. The panel discussion will provide each member the opportunity to share an overview of the MC Initiative and their view of impacts, benefits, and challenges or concerns related to the region operational changes. Their presentations will be followed by a question and answer session, giving audience participants the opportunity to direct questions back to the speakers.