RICHLAND, Wash. – Energy Northwest's Board of Directors elected five inside directors and one outside director to the agency's 11-member executive board April 27, 2022 during its regularly scheduled meeting. Each of the directors will serve a four-year term on the executive board, beginning July 1.
The executive board sets the policies that govern the operations of Energy Northwest.
The board of directors elected the following utility commissioners from its 27 members to serve as inside directors:
Arie Callaghan, Grays Harbor County PUD 1
Jack Janda, Mason County PUD 1
Curt Knapp, Pend Oreille PUD
Jim Malinowski, Clark Public Utilities
Will Purser, Clallam County PUD
Selected from outside its membership, the board of directors appointed Bill Pitesa, a former chief nuclear officer for Duke Energy and a 39-year nuclear industry veteran, to serve as one of three outside directors.
“Today's executive board represents top policymakers in business, finance and science, with a broad range of expertise in the public power industry," said CEO Bob Schuetz. “Together we will continue to provide our public power members and regional customers with safe, reliable, cost-effective, responsible power generation and innovative energy and business solutions."
Arie Callaghan
Callaghan, of Elma, Washington, was elected to the Grays Harbor Board of Commissioners Public Utility District 1 in 2012 and was appointed to the Energy Northwest Board of Directors in March 2014. In January 2015 he was elected as the board assistant secretary; in January 2017 as secretary; and in October 2017 as vice president. He was elected to the executive board in 2018. He has 29 years of experience with the Mason trucking company of Aberdeen, where his duties include supervising the fleet of six Lowboy trucks and driving one. He is a lifelong resident of Grays Harbor and proud to be a third generation Harborite.
Jack Janda
Janda, of Hoodsport, Washington, was elected to the Mason County Public Utility District 1 Board of Commissioners in 2001 and re-elected to serve another six-year term in 2013 and 2019. He was appointed to the Energy Northwest Board of Directors in January 2003, and elected by the board of directors to serve on the executive board in January 2005 to fill an unexpired term ending in June 2006. In April 2006, he was elected to his first full four-year term on the executive board and re-elected in 2010, 2014 and 2018. He has served as vice chair of the executive board and secretary/treasurer, vice president and president of Columbia Generating Station's Participants Review Board. While serving on the Mason PUD 1 Commission, he represented the utility on the Washington Public Utility District Association (WPUDA) and has served on the WPUDA board as secretary/treasurer, vice president and president. Janda also served as first chair of the WPUDA Energy Committee in 2008. Prior to his election, Janda was employed with the Forest Service and retired after 32 years of government service. He retired from the Hoodsport Fire Department after serving 33 years as a volunteer fireman / EMT; and served as its chief for 10 years. He attended Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, and the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.
Curt Knapp
Knapp, of Newport, Washington, was appointed to the Pend Oreille Public Utility District Board of Commissioners in February 2002. He was elected to the Pend Oreille Public Utility District Board of Commissioners in November 2002 and re-elected in 2008, 2014 and again in 2020. He was appointed to the Energy Northwest Board of Directors in January 2011 and elected board president in January 2019. He previously held the secretary and assistant secretary positions. During his service with the Pend Oreille PUD Commission, Knapp was appointed the voting member to WPUDA, and has served on the Budget, Telecom, Legislative and Roundtable Committees. In April 2013, he was elected to serve as president of WPUDA and will chair their board of directors' meetings as well as the executive board. A native of Washington, he holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, with a minor in business, and an associate degree in Mortuary Science from Mt. Hood Community College. He and his wife Kim worked for more than 25 years in the funeral business, owning and operating funeral homes in Newport, Washington and Priest River, Idaho. They sold the funeral home in 2006, but Knapp still serves as a deputy coroner for the County. He is the District's current board representative to Public Utility Risk Management Services, and he is active in various civil and public utility organizations.
Jim Malinowski
Malinowski, of Yacolt, Washington, was appointed to the Clark Public Utilities Board of Commissioners in 2012 and re-elected for a second six-year term in 2018. In 2015 he was appointed to the Energy Northwest Board of Directors. Malinowski had a 31-year career with Pacific Gas & Electric Company in San Francisco, retiring as manager of the Power Control department. After moving back to his family home in Amboy, Washington, he spent several years in various foreign consulting assignments and eight years managing and teaching in the Clark College Power Utilities Technology Program. Malinowski is a member of the boards of the North Clark Historical Museum, Fish First, the Southwest Washington chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association, Clark County Citizens United and the Mountain Valley Grange. Malinowski was born in Aberdeen, Wash. He graduated from Battle Ground High School, Washington State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University with a MSEE degree and Stanford University with a MSEE degree in Management.
Will Purser
Purser, of Sequim, Washington, has served as Clallam County Public Utility District 1 commissioner since April 2001. He was appointed to the Energy Northwest Board of Directors in April 2008 and elected to the executive board in June 2010. He was re-elected in 2014 and 2018, and elected as executive board chair in August 2021. He has spent nearly 34 years in the energy (oil and gas) industry. An engineer with graduate studies in nuclear engineering, Purser holds (retired) professional engineering licenses in numerous states. His career includes responsibility for capital-intensive and technical projects in the U.S. and internationally, such as deep-water offshore facilities, liquefied natural gas terminals and large Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act power generation facilities. He has negotiated power sales agreements with major investor-owned utilities and intervened in electrical rate cases before various state public utility commissions. He is a Vietnam-era veteran and is active in public power and community service organizations.
Bill Pitesa
Pitesa, of Charlotte, North Carolina, is a nuclear industry veteran with 39 years of experience. He retired after working at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) as chief nuclear officer. Pitesa joined NEI as a loaned executive from Duke Energy. Previously, Pitesa served as chief nuclear officer for Duke Energy. He was responsible for the safe operation of 11 nuclear power reactors in North Carolina and South Carolina. Pitesa joined Duke Energy in 1980 and became a senior reactor operator in 1986, and in 1992, served two years as a loaned employee to the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). He also supported the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) by serving on nuclear plant review teams in the United States, Korea, France, South Africa and Ukraine. Pitesa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University. He is a registered professional engineer in North Carolina and a graduate of Harvard's Advanced Management Program.
Energy Northwest's Board of Directors has 27 member representatives; one representative for each of the 22 public utility districts and five municipal utilities that comprise Energy Northwest. The board of directors has sole authority to authorize and terminate Energy Northwest projects.
The executive board members include five elected from the board of directors, three appointed by the board of directors from outside of Energy Northwest, and the remaining three appointed by the governor of Washington.
Contacts:
Angela Smith, Public Affairs, 509-377-4154
Susan Fillafer, Public Affairs, 509-377-6117
About Energy Northwest
Energy Northwest develops, owns and operates a diverse mix of electricity generating resources, including hydro, solar, battery storage and wind projects – and the Northwest's only nuclear power facility. These projects provide carbon-free electricity at the cost of generation – enough clean, cost-effective and reliable energy to power more than a million homes each year. As an independent joint operating agency of Washington state, Energy Northwest comprises 27 public power member utilities from across the state serving more than 1.5 million customers. The agency continually explores new generation projects to meet its members' needs.
