The Journey
WORK EXPERIENCE:
Bob came to Alaska in 1977 and worked for the Corps of Engineering Electrical Division.
In 1978, he went to work for Municipal Light and Power (ML&P). Here he held many positions over twenty-eight years: Distribution Engineer, Planning Engineer, Relay and Protection Engineer, Dispatch Manager, and Manager of Power Production to name a few. Bob retired from ML&P in 2006. In the early 2000’s, he developed, installed, and maintained the ML&P Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA). He retired from ML&P in 2006.
That same year, HEA asked Bob to join as their Power Production Manager. Together, they embarked on the project called Independent Light, whereby they built the facilities at Nikiski and Soldotna so HEA could generate its own electrical needs. Bob was instrumental in completing Independent Light, and later he became Superintendent of Bradley Lake Hydro (operated for the State of Alaska under contract with HEA). He again retired in 2022.
BOARD EXPERIENCE:
Bob's career spans 50 years of working for and with utilities across the Railbelt. Bob became a licensed engineer in 1981.
In the late 70's, when the Alaska Fairbanks Intertie was being built, the utilities cooperatively developed various boards and committees. One of these was the Intertie Management Committee (IMC), which consisted of several subcommittees: the Intertie Operating Committee (IOC), the Reliability Operations Committee (ROC), and the SCADA committee, all of which Bob served in various roles including president. These entities made the Railbelt work by establishing rules for operation and repair, developing maintenance budgets, allocating resources, and more.
When Bob joined Homer Electric Association in 2006, HEA faced the issue of either becoming a subset of Chugach Electric Association, which would make them dependent on CEA and their resources, or HEA could consider being independent. There were many discussions with the HEA board on the pros and cons of being independent. Bob presented a strong and influential argument that HEA should become independent, which they did – which was later referred to as Independent Light.
After the successful completion of the Independent Light project, Bob became Superintendent of the multi-million-dollar Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Plant, and later the Battle Creek Dam Project.
Over his career, Bob has worked with state leaders, legislatures and other influential utility executives to put laws into place to protect the utilities, and to help better manage the Railbelt. He is very familiar with the workings, and rules of order for board meetings.
Bob has collected a vast body of knowledge in the 50 years of being part of the Alaska electrical industry, and now he wants to put that knowledge to work for the members of Homer Electric Association.
A few other notes of interest are:
• Bob was a volunteer Alyeska Ski patrolman and board member for 8+ years
• Bob was a voluntary Mountain & Rescue Patrolman
• He was a hockey goalie (Goalie Bob) and played Rugby
• Bob has a passion for travel and loves cats