WAPA

Interview with new WAPA Administrator Tim Meeks:

Tim: As I shared with our customers at the MidWest Electric Consumers Association meeting, there are three key areas covered in the Energy Policy Act that we will be focusing on externally.

First is our duty as a transmission owner and provider. I think of transmission as being the ultimate key to our future. When you look at power marketing, we're here to deliver Federal hydropower. When you look at our long-term future, transmission and operations are services that are growing. Right now, the percentage of Federal hydropower we're providing our customers is decreasing, because our resources aren't growing and the customers' load requirements are.

I think we have an obligation to get out there and work with public, private and even non-utility entities to help alleviate transmission congestion points and "conditional congestion areas" within our service territory, as defined by the Department of Energy's National Electric Transmission Congestion Study. "Conditional congestion areas" are locations where existing congestions is expected to get significantly worse if large amounts of new generation resources are developed without associated transmission capacity. With more than 17,000 miles of transmission lines, we need to be a major player in solving congestion.

Another area we are focusing on is integrating wind into the existing transmission system. Wind energy is here. It's a renewable resource that is getting a lot of attention both from consumers and politicians. Wind energy is the world's fastest-growing energy technology. We need to do what we can physically to make it easier for wind generators to connect to the system.

Thirdly, I anticipate expanding our partnership with Native American tribes to foster economic development on reservations. I know that's a very hard thing to quantify for success tracking, but we're going to continue to reach out to the tribes. They are our customers and we need to ask them, "What do you value from us and how can we help you develop and grow economically?"