BPA Honors 2024 Administrator’s Excellence Award Winners

The Bonneville Power Administration announced the winners of the agency's 2024 Administrator's Excellence Awards, recognizing federal employees, contract personnel and external partners who have made remarkable contributions to BPA's mission, the electric utility industry and Pacific Northwest communities.

This year, BPA celebrates a record-breaking 50 employee-nominated awardees, that is 46 individuals and four teams, for their hard work and dedication and whose service directly contributes to the agency's 2024-2028 strategic goals.

The 2024 theme for BPA's most distinguished accolades is Brilliant, Progressive, Admirable. The "BPA" theme honors colleagues who have achieved excellence through various actions.

"All of their contributions have made a significant difference," said John Hairston, BPA administrator and CEO. "From saving a life, to mentoring the next generation of leaders; from ensuring BPA balances the many needs of the hydropower system, to accomplishing landmark agreements with tribal partners that support fish and wildlife; from dedicating decades of expertise to the transmission grid, to developing new tools that will shape the future of clean energy."

The 2024 AEA winners are as follows (listed in alphabetical order by category):

Employee Development

• Jason Jennings, chief substation operator, Substation Operations
• Kyle Kohne, manager (acting), Transmission Planning
• David Scharton, system protection and control training coordinator, Technical Training Center

Exceptional Public Service

• Ralph Cavanagh, energy co-director, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Kurt Miller, former executive director, Northwest RiverPartners
• Debra Smith, former general manager, Seattle City Light

Exceptional Service

• Kristine Bartlett, planning lead, Short Term Planning
• Mary Godwin, attorney-adviser, Office of General Counsel - Natural Resources
• Jenny Hurlburt, public utilities specialist, Slice Operations and Management
• Shana Kuhn, manager (acting), Transmission Commercial System Management
• Danielle Johnson, supervisory public utilities specialist, Open Access Same-Time Information System Management
• Steve Lowder, electrical engineer (retired), Substation Maintenance and Application
• Lauren Nichols-Kinas, policy analyst, Transmission Commercial Planning
• Rob Petty, manager, Power and Operations Planning
• Nita Zimmerman, chief business transformation officer, BTO

Exemplary or Courageous Act

• Joby Shelton, substation operator apprentice IV, Eugene District Operations
• Construction and Maintenance Services Crew: Scott Burns, John Cain, Shawn Dishman, Rob Ebeling, Craig Langan, Toni Lindsay, Steve Parrish, Travis Petty, Tim Pitts, Leander Pruitt

  Eugene C. Starr

• MayMay Adolf, electrical engineer (retired), Remedial Action Scheme Engineering

• Leah Sullivan, supervisory program analyst, Fish Operations Policy and Planning

George Bell Community Outreach

• Cymany O'Brien, supply management specialist, Materials Management

  Meritorious Service

• Sonya Baskerville, director, Intergovernmental Affairs
• Jim Burgess, supervisory civil engineer (retired), Geomatics
• Yvette Gill, manager, Enterprise Shared Services
• Tim Johnson, assistant general counsel, Office of General Counsel - Power
• Alex Lennox, financial analyst, Revenue Requirement, Repayment and Financial Strategy
• Margaret Pedersen Mainzer, public utility specialist (retired), Long Term Sales and Purchases
• Garett Rehbein, South Region operations and maintenance manager, Transmission Field Services
• Fred Walasavage, environmental specialist, Pollution Prevention and Abatement

Outstanding Team Achievement

• BP-22 Power Rate Case Team: Daniel Fisher, Richard A. Greene, Christian Griffen, Neil Gschwend, Courtney Olive, Tucker Miles, Mary Bodine-Watts, Dorie Welch
• Grid Modernization Portfolio Team: Elsa Chang, Eva Cobb (retired), Alan DeJong, Mike Gardiner, Manny Holowatz, Heather Jespersen, Art Kautz, Chuck Kisselburg, Josh Kulak, Vasia Limantzakis, Allie Mace, Brian Montoya, Adam Morse, John Nguyen, Kristy Norton (retired), Jacob Sigo, Anne Simon, Tracey Stancliff, Mark Symonds, Don Valentine
• Phase 2 Implementation Planning Team: Marcy Foster, Mary Godwin, Maureen Kavanagh, Jill Leary, Anne Senters, Leah Sullivan, Jason Sweet, Ben Zelinsky

Roy Hunter Sampsel Tribal Achievement

• Kat Brigham, tribal leader, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
• Carol Evans, chairwoman (retired), Spokane Tribal Business Council

Safety Excellence

• Lance Thornall, electrical utility materials handler foreman I, Supply Chain Services

  Special Service

• Debbie Ray, regional support specialist, ACS Group, Inc.
• Mike Street, electronics engineer, Motus Recruiting and Staffing

Unsung Hero

• Matt Balogh, contract officer, Corporate and Infrastructure Acquisition
• Eric Bell, management analyst, Chief Administrative Office
• Zack Buus, public utilities specialist, Transmission Commercial System Processes and Implementation
• Ray Charbonneau, IT specialist, Agency Commercial Systems
• Jon Guyer, director of maintenance, Aircraft Services
• Anna Hayes, supervisory disbursement specialist, Finance Treasury Operations
• Dustin McVay, management analyst, Business Controls and Information
• Jackie Quinn, IT specialist, Enterprise Technology Operations Services
• Kristina Rohe, policy lead, Bulk Marketing Scheduling Coordination
• Chris Roper, Storm Water Program manager, Facility Operations and Maintenance

Workplace or Technology Innovation

• Gordon Ashby, asset strategy manager, Generating Assets
• Daniel Kuraspediani, electrical engineer lead, Operations Planning
• Shawn Patterson, electronics engineer, Power System Control
• Chelsea Smith-Nelson, operations research analyst, Operations Planning