What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

My first job at Avista was working as an energy conservation representative in some of our first energy conservation programs in the early 1980s. I learned a lot about our company, our customers and what it really means to meet customer expectations by delivering exceptional service. I also learned that working collaboratively results in the best outcomes for our customers, our communities, our employees and our investors.

What is your most significant achievement?

From a career perspective, being a part of the team that helped to rebuild our company financially after the devastating energy crisis of 2000-2001 has been tremendously gratifying.
It's been reported that Avista foresees an electricity shortage in the not-too-distant future. What will cause that?

We are forecasting a steady rate of economic and residential growth in our region over the next two decades. That growth will further boost demand for energy, and we anticipate needing to add to our existing resources by 2011 in order to keep up.

How will Avista address that shortage?

Avista has a long history of innovation, and we've developed a resource plan that will address growing energy demand with cost-effective and environmentally responsible new resources. Avista plans to acquire a variety of new resources, including more renewable energy, over the next 10 years. We are already implementing aggressive energy efficiency programs to help our customers use energy wisely and meet a portion of our future resource needs with recaptured energy. Our plans call for 350 megawatts of gas-fired generation, 300 MW of wind, 87 MW of new conservation, 38 MW of hydro plant upgrades and 34 MW of other renewables by 2017.

What role do you see for wind power in the future?

Wind is an important renewable resource for the region. Its fuel comes from nature and it has the potential to provide substantial amounts of power. A few of the challenges to overcome include the increase in the cost of materials to build wind resources as demand grows and the need to ensure other resources are available to accommodate the intermittent nature of wind.

What would you say to opponents of proposed wind farms in eastern and central Washington?

Wind power is part of our future and we need to find the least intrusive way to use it. The need to address climate issues is bringing about a switch from traditional generation sources. As policies for our energy future are developed, we need to continue to debate the merits of both traditional and new renewable generating resources.

What energy conservation measures are you taking at home?

In addition to changing out all of my incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, we do many simple things that really add up. We turn off the lights when we leave a room; we close our blinds during the hottest days of the summer and the coldest days of the winter. We conserve water by taking shorter showers and look for Energy Star appliances when replacing our older, less efficient ones. We also use natural gas as much as possible because it is much more efficient when burned in the home rather than using it to generate electricity.