California ISO
Elliot Mainzer is CEO of the California ISO. Former NARUC President Paul Kjellander is Senior Advisor at Public Utilities Fortnightly.
As the only independent grid operator out west, the California ISO is responsible for making sure the power flows in the fifth largest economy in the world. Since 1998, CAISO has been granting equal access to nearly twenty-six thousand circuit miles of transmission lines.
But times are changing, and CAISO is changing with the times. Although already serving part of Nevada, in this age of decarbonization and renewables, CAISO is expanding its reach.
But it's complicated. That's why CAISO CEO Elliot Mainzer, no stranger to transformation, has a lot to figure out for the future. Here he sits down with PUF's Paul Kjellander, to make sense of the many changes at CAISO.
Paul Kjellander: You started at Enron, and it collapsed, then went to BPA where you became CEO in a politically charged job. Now you're heading CAISO in a transformative time in the energy sector. Have you ever had an easy job?
Elliot Mainzer: I'd have to say no. I came across Enron when I was doing a summer internship in South Africa during graduate school in the 1990s. In the fall of 1997, I learned Enron was moving into clean energy and renewables, which I've always had an interest in.