The Basics
How long have you been at City Light? Almost seven and a half years
Division: Finance
Tell us about your role: I lead the development of City Light’s long-term retail load forecast. The long-term load forecast projects how much electricity City Light’s service territory will use from one to 20-plus years. It also feeds into key planning functions like the Strategic Plan, rate case, integrated resource plan, conservation potential assessment, and the small area capacity plan. It’s a collaborative effort, so I get the opportunity to work with folks from across the utility to figure out how things like electrification and climate change (to name a few) will impact electricity consumption. It’s a fun challenge.
Background
Hometown: Sammamish, Wash.
Alma Mater: University of Auckland (New Zealand) for my master’s and the University of Washington for undergrad
Area of study: Finance and economics. My master’s degree is research-based. I studied wholesale electricity markets.
Tell us about your family: I live in Tacoma with my partner, Megan. We have a COVID rescue puppy from Texas who is mostly grown now. Her name is Tui, and she is a boxer/cattle dog mix. We also have a cat, Francis.
Just for Fun
What is one of your biggest accomplishments? Probably completing my master’s. I was also working mostly full-time as a barista. I stayed up late working on my thesis and getting up early to make coffee. It was exhausting but in a rewarding way.
What do you like most about your role? Working on complex issues facing the utility industry with my colleagues. I like problem solving and group work. My role is a combination of both!
What was your first big purchase with your own money? A road bike. Initially, I bought it because I got frustrated sitting in traffic on my commute home when I lived in the Tri-Cities, a place you wouldn’t think would have traffic. It was a great purchase because road cycling turned into my favorite hobby.
If you could use two words to describe yourself, what would they be? “Loves coffee”?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? I like living in the Seattle area since I grew up here, but if I had to live somewhere else, I would move back to New Zealand. I applied, interviewed, and received my first position at City Light while living in New Zealand. There is a good chance I would still be living there if that perfect job opportunity at City Light didn’t pop up at precisely the right time!