Former Montana utility regulator will lead the $4 billion federal power-marketing agency serving the Pacific Northwest
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced Travis Kavulla as administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration, putting the former Montana utility regulator in charge of the agency that markets wholesale power across the Pacific Northwest.
“Travis Kavulla’s extensive experience in the energy sector will strengthen Bonneville’s ongoing efforts to expand and modernize energy infrastructure and ensure regional grid reliability,” Wright said in a statement. “I look forward to partnering with Bonneville as it builds on its legacy as the region’s leading provider of wholesale power and works to secure a prosperous future for the people of the Pacific Northwest and our nation.”
Kavulla, who grew up in Great Falls, Mont., is well known in Northwest energy policy circles. He served on the Montana Public Service Commission from 2011 to 2019, including stints as chairman and vice chairman, and later spent a year as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Most recently, he worked as vice president for regulatory affairs at NRG Energy.
He becomes the 17th administrator of the agency, which markets wholesale electricity from 31 federal hydroelectric dams and one nonfederal nuclear plant, oversees roughly three-quarters of the Pacific Northwest’s high-voltage transmission grid, and manages a federal power-marketing enterprise with a budget of roughly $4 billion. He succeeds John Hairston, who departed at the end of April; Robin Furrer had served as acting administrator in the interim. The Energy Department had reportedly narrowed its search to two finalists, Kavulla and Seattle City Light CEO Dawn Roth Lindell, before settling on Kavulla.
Under Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit will swear in Kavulla at BPA’s headquarters in Portland on June 29.