Our people

Noel Black
Regulatory and External Affairs Officer, Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp.
Noel Black is the regulatory and external affairs officer for Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., where he is responsible for leading the company’s regulatory strategy, government and stakeholder relations, and external communications functions. Prior to joining Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., he served as the senior vice president of regulatory affairs for Southern Company, where he was responsible for federal and state regulations, as well as state executive affairs. Noel directed the company’s energy policy outreach with agencies including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and Environmental Protection Agency. Noel holds a BS in marketing and an MBA from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Kimberly Collier
Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Puget Sound Energy
Kim Collier is vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Puget Sound Energy (PSE). As CHRO, Kim is responsible for leading PSE’s overall human resource strategy, talent retention and attraction, employee and labor relations, organizational design and culture development, HR operations and technology and total rewards. Prior to joining PSE, Kim held executive roles inside and outside of the utility industry. From 2009 to 2016, she served as deputy director of Seattle Public Utilities, where she was the Officer responsible for human resources, environmental justice and service equity, safety and HR operations and data management. Prior to that, she was director of human resources for Cox Communications in Phoenix, Arizona. She’s also held roles with The Dial Corporation, Motorola and Kinko’s, Inc. Kim is chair of the board for the Puget Sound Energy Foundation. She also serves as a member of the African American Advisory Council for the Bellevue Police Department and as a Community Representative for the Independent Force Investigation Team of King County, WA. She holds a BS from the College of New Jersey. Kim completed the Energy Executive Course in 2017.

Christine Cowsert Chapman
Senior Vice President, Enterprise Business and Technology Modernization, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Christine Cowsert Chapman is the senior vice president of enterprise business and technology modernization at Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), where she leads improvements to cross-functional business processes, including designing and implementing PG&E’s production system and driving efficient and effective work execution. She is also responsible for providing enterprise business leadership for SAP S4/HANA and ESRI Utility Data network technology upgrades. Prior to this role, Christine was the senior vice president of gas engineering, where she was responsible for near-term engineering priorities and long-term planning for the utility’s gas infrastructure, as well as gas asset and risk management. She also oversaw gas and electric system planning and design. Christine has been with PG&E for more than 20 years serving in various natural gas engineering, human resources and electric operations functions. Christine holds a BS in mechanical engineering and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and is a registered professional engineer in the state of California.

Sloane Drake
Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Southern Company
Sloane Drake serves as executive vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Southern Company. Southern Company is a leading energy provider, serving 9 million customers and 28,000 employees through its family of companies. Sloane oversees Southern's comprehensive HR strategy, including talent acquisition, development, compensation, total rewards, employee wellbeing, HR business partnership and labor relations. Her innovative approach to organizational design, culture building, HR operations and business partnership has ensured that Southern Company remains at the forefront of industry best practices. Sloane graduated from the University of Georgia with a BS in psychology.

Christy Fanous
Vice President, Customer Experience and Performance, Southern California Edison
Christy Fanous is the vice president of customer experience and performance at Southern California Edison (SCE), where she is responsible for customer experience strategy and execution, optimizing performance across customer service, and enhancing customer experience across SCE. Previously, Christy held a variety of executive positions across SCE, including overseeing the construction and maintenance of generation, transmission and substation facilities, leading vegetation management and pole replacement programs for wildfire mitigation and managing teams in Operations Support, Information Management and Corporate Affairs.  Christy holds a BS degree in business administration from Pepperdine University and an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California.

Anne Jones
Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, MDU Resources Group, Inc.
Anne Jones is vice president and chief human resources officer for MDU Resources, where she oversees human resources at MDU Resources as well as the corporation’s business units WBI Energy, Inc. and the utility group, which includes Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Great Plains Natural Gas Co., Cascade Natural Gas Corp., and Intermountain Gas Co. Anne joined the corporation in 1982 and has led the utility group’s human resources area since 2008. In 2013 she was named vice president of human resources, customer service and safety at the utility group. Anne holds a BS in management from the University of Mary. She attended the Energy Executive Course in 2011.

John Kochavatr
Vice President, Digital Solutions and Chief Information Officer, Portland General Electric
John Kochavatr is the vice president of digital solutions and chief information officer for Portland General Electric (PGE), where he is responsible for information systems, advancing operational effectiveness through deeper use of technology. John has more than 20 years of experience in the information technology industry. Prior to joining PGE in 2018, he was senior vice president and chief information officer at SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions (formerly GE Water) and served in several information technology leadership positions at GE Power (formerly GE Energy). John holds a BA in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in Chicago, Illinois.

Sara McCoy
Director, Safety and Risk Management, Salt River Project
Sara McCoy is the director of safety and risk management for Salt River Project. SRP provides sustainable, reliable and affordable water and power to more than 2 million people in central Arizona and has annual revenues of more than $3 billion. In this role, she is responsible for directing programs that minimize risk to SRP and its employees in the areas of safety, occupational health and insurance. Sara’s more than 30 years of experience at SRP include being SRP’s first female power plant manager, transmission operations, distribution planning, energy marketing, reliability regulatory compliance, water reservoir emergency operations, project management and engineering. She has a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Arizona. Sara attended the Energy Executive Course in 2015.

Kerry Overton
Deputy General Manager and Chief Customer Officer, Austin Energy
Kerry Overton is the deputy general manager and chief customer officer for Austin Energy, where he oversees the utility’s customer-facing operations to include customer energy solutions, customer account management and customer care services to include Austin 311. He joined Austin Energy as a member of the corporate consulting team in 2000 and served in several key executive roles. His more than 36 years of related energy industry experience includes governmental sector resource management, utility customer contact center operations, commercial and residential account management services, energy efficiency services, customer renewable solutions and customer assistance programs. Kerry holds a BA in managerial studies and political science from Rice University, an MBA from the University of Texas Graduate School of Business and an MPA from the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. He attended the Energy Executive Course in 2007.

Daniella Piper
Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, New York Power Authority
Daniella Piper is the executive vice president and chief innovation officer at the New York Power Authority (NYPA), where she leads the Power Authority’s corporate strategy function and innovation efforts focused on optimizing organizational performance and delivery of innovative energy solutions in support of customer and state goals. With more than 16 years of experience in the energy industry, Daniella has a long history of success at the Power Authority. She recently served as regional manager of Western New York, leading operations at the Power Authority's largest hydro asset – the Niagara Power Project. She has been integral to some of NYPA's most trailblazing efforts, such as the construction of the Marcy South Series Compensation Project. Through her varied roles, including a previous post as Chief of Staff, Daniella developed a broad understanding of the Power Authority and has excelled at working collaboratively with employees and external parties. She holds a BSE in electrical engineering from City College of New York, an MEE in power systems from New York University and an MCE in construction management from Manhattan College. Daniella attended the Energy Executive Course in 2019.

Amanda Rome
Executive Vice President and Group President, Utilities and Chief Customer Officer, Xcel Energy
Amanda Rome is executive vice president, group president of utilities and chief customer officer at Xcel Energy with responsibility for the overall strategy and execution of each of Xcel Energy's four operating companies as well as the customer-facing organizations including clean transportation, customer solutions and innovation and customer care. She previously held the position of chief legal and compliance officer where she was responsible for the company's law department and overall legal strategy. Prior to joining Xcel Energy, Amanda worked as a federal court litigator at Winston & Strawn in Chicago and Faegre Baker Daniels in Minneapolis. She serves on the board of directors for the Minnesota chapter of the Trust for Public Lands. Amanda attended Penn State University where she was the starting outside hitter on a Penn State women’s volleyball team that won the division I national championship. She holds a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Jerry Schmitz
Vice President, Safety and Quality, Southwest Gas Corporation
Jerry Schmitz is the vice president of Safety & Quality for Southwest Gas Corporation (Southwest). He is responsible for the environmental programs, occupational health and safety, safety management systems, quality improvement, quality assurance and safety, quality, training and qualifications departments. In his current position, Jerry is focused on elevating safety and quality across the company and developing and communicating strategic initiatives that advance the company’s safety and quality cultures. In his 35 years with Southwest, Jerry has held a variety of positions in the engineering and operations areas of the company. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of Arizona, California, and Nevada with a proficiency in mechanical engineering and is certified as a quality auditor with the American Society for Quality. He holds a BS in genetics from the University of California, Davis and a BS in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University. Jerry attended the Energy Executive Course in 2007.

Amy Shaw
Vice President, Finance, Compliance and Risk, Idaho Power Company
Amy Shaw is the vice president of finance, compliance, and risk for IDACORP and Idaho Power Company. Prior to this appointment, she served as the director of investor relations, compliance and risk for Idaho Power Company. Amy has been with Idaho Power for 20 years. Prior to joining Idaho Power, she worked in public accounting for Deloitte & Touche. Amy serves on the finance committee for St. Luke's Health Plan. She holds a BS in business from the University of Idaho and is a certified public accountant and certified information systems auditor. Amy attended the Energy Executive Course in 2016.

Jason Thackston
Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy and Clean Energy Officer, Avista Corp.
Jason Thackston is senior vice president and chief strategy and clean energy officer for Avista Corp. He has held leadership positions at Avista in energy resources, customer solutions, energy delivery, finance, risk management, investor relations and corporate development. He serves on the board of trustees of Whitworth University as well as on the boards of the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, the Northwest Gas Association and the Health Sciences and Services Authority of Spokane County. Jason holds a BA in international studies with an emphasis in business management from Whitworth University and an MBA from Gonzaga University. He attended the Energy Executive Course in 2003.

Tony Tomczak
President, Tomczak Enterprises LLC
Tony Tomczak is the president of Tomczak Enterprises LLC. Tony retired as vice president of electric sales and marketing for DTE Energy where he was responsible for executing high-level marketing programs and key customer service initiatives for community lighting and joint use margin, while reducing MPSC complaints. Tony previously served as vice president of corporate services and chief procurement officer where he was responsible for strategic management of the company’s procurement, supplier performance management, warehousing, fleet, facilities and real estate organizations. Prior to joining DTE Energy, he was vice president of purchasing for Tower Automotive. Tony holds a BS in industrial engineering from Purdue University and an MS in industrial operation from Lawrence Technical University.

Christi Woodworth
Vice President, Marketing and Communications, OGE Energy Corp.
Christi Woodworth is vice president of marketing and communications for OGE Energy Corp., where she is responsible for corporate communications, internal communications, public relations, stakeholder engagement and community outreach. She is involved with numerous community organizations and serves on the boards of Angels Foster Family Network Oklahoma, Downtown OKC, Edmond Public Schools Foundation and Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma. Christi holds a BS in leisure services and studies from Florida State University and an MBA in arts management from Oklahoma City University. She attended the Energy Executive Course in 2022.

The faculty who teach in the Energy Executive Course are widely respected, influential leaders. These experts facilitate dialogue on diverse points of view and ensure a well-rounded learning experience.