| 1) | What makes PEC’s mission
meaningful to you, and what interest you about serving on the PEC Board
of Directors? It is easy to take for granted the benefits of utilities and the effort required to deliver reliable services at acceptable cost. When it comes to essential services such as power and water, I appreciate public service models and wish to contribute to PEC’s continued success. My hope is to help build upon the historic superlatives that PEC has, such as the largest, oldest and arguably most storied electric cooperative, and garner additional earned superlatives. These might relate to cost of service, sustainability, and member satisfaction. |
| 2) | What education, skills, strengths or life experiences do you have that would benefit PEC? I hold BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering and have enjoyed a largely technical career in semiconductor manufacturing spanning process engineering, product development and deployment, and account management. I’m now semi-retired, with the time and energy to serve the cooperative. Alongside my career, I developed an interest in energy generation, delivery technologies, and sustainability through volunteer work with nonprofits focused on distributed energy production and pollution reduction. My efforts led to an appointment with the Electric Utility Commission of the City of Austin where I helped establish an emissions reduction program that has since accrued a net $1B of beneficial impact to the State of Texas, while Austin Energy remains in the lowest decile for total cost per meter for residential service as compared to the rest of the state. |
| 3) | What other boards or committees have you served on or leadership positions have you held in the past? The most directly relevant are: Commissioner, City of Austin, Electric Utility Commission (2018-2022), Boad of Directors of Texas Solar Energy Society (2011-2016), Board of Directors of Solar Austin (2010-2018) |
| 4) | Are you familiar with the elements of the cooperative business model? Yes, I appreciate the cooperative model. I’ll affirm the key elements here by sharing the Texas Electric Cooperatives’ principles listing from the texas-ec.org website: voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic participation; autonomy and independence; sharing education, training and information; cooperation among cooperatives; concern for community. |
| 5) | How would you approach working with your fellow PEC Board of Directors to achieve collaboration and consensus? I would prioritize listening carefully before advocating, seeking to understand the interests and concerns underlying each colleague's position. Where disagreement exists, I would look for common ground in our shared obligations to PEC's member-owners. I believe consensus is most durable when it is built on transparent reasoning rather than compromise for its own sake, and I would work to foster that kind of candid, good-faith dialogue. My goal would be to be a colleague my fellow directors find trustworthy, prepared, and constructive. |