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BPA Transmission Business Gets New Leader by Staff Portland Business Journal, July 5, 2004

The Bonneville Power Administration has named a new leader of its transmission business line, who will oversee all functions of the Pacific Northwest's high-voltage power line grid.

Vickie VanZandt will become the new senior vice president on July 23, replacing the retiring Mark Maher.

Currently, VanZandt is vice president for the transmission business line's operations and planning. She is responsible for the scheduling and operation of BPA's transmission grid in a four-state service territory spanning Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana.

At the request of the Department of Energy, VanZandt recently co-chaired the operations team that investigated the East Coast blackout of Aug. 14, 2003.

"Vickie is clearly the best person in the country to step into this role," said BPA Administrator Steve Wright. "Her encyclopedic understanding of Northwest transmission issues is widely recognized. The work she did with the team that investigated last summer's electrical outage in the Northeast has given her a tremendous insight into the state of the national power grid and how the Northwest stands in relation to it."

VanZandt has been responsible for the planning and design of BPA's transmission system including substations, transmission lines, and protection, control, and data systems. In addition, she has served as BPA's substation maintenance manager, chief information officer, vice president for engineering services, and chief engineer. She currently serves on the research advisory committee of the Electrical Power Research Institute.