Get to know the 5 finalists for Fort Collins Utilities director

The community got a closer look at the five finalists for Fort Collins Utilities director at a Wednesday evening virtual forum.

The finalists come from disparate backgrounds: One candidate, Tiana Smith, previously spent a decade with Fort Collins Utilities and now leads climate strategy for a natural gas utility that’s working to decarbonize. Another, David Hornbacher, is president of the Platte River Power Authority board and has experience leading a utility that includes broadband services. Finalist Kendall Minor works on renewable energy projects in Georgia and has experience in electric utility leadership for one of the largest utilities in the country. Finalist Scott Kulwicki works for another major electric utility and has spent the last 10 years focused on wind, solar and other renewable sources across several states And finalist Eleanor Allen’s background is in water and, more recently, nonprofit leadership as CEO of Water for People.

The finalists answered city and community member questions from city moderator Ginny Sawyer during the 90-minute forum. What follows is a summary of what we learned in each candidate’s answers to those questions.

Eleanor Allen

Background: Allen has spent much of her career in consulting for water and wastewater projects, and she took on the CEO role for the nonprofit Water for People six years ago. That organization develops water infrastructure for communities in Africa, Latin America and India.

What sets her apart from the other candidates: She’s the only candidate leading a nonprofit, and she has the most experience in water and wastewater.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: Analysis and customer education go hand-in-hand, she said. The utility needs to carefully analyze the costs and risks associated with new infrastructure, and leaders need to communicate with customers about rate increases and why the utility is pursuing upgrades that require more revenue.

More: Here's what you can expect from Fort Collins City Council in 2022

Comments on employee hiring and retention: People often leave their jobs because they don’t like their managers, they don’t feel heard, or they don’t feel challenged, Allen said. She said she’d look for ways to connect employees with their “zones of brilliance” — things they’re great at and love to do — recognizing them for good work and giving them stretch assignments and career development opportunities. (Note: This question asked candidates for their ideas outside of compensation.)

Comments on trends in utilities: Along with the energy trends that other candidates mentioned, she highlighted water quantity and quality concerns. "We're growing drier and drier, as we've seen by the recent fires, and extreme weather is going to be more and more concern for everyone living here,” she said, adding that water storage will be a necessity and the community will need to continue focusing on water quality impacts from wildfires.

David Hornbacher

Background: Since 2019, Hornbacher has been executive director of Longmont Power and Communications, which oversees Longmont’s electricity and internet services. He was previously the utilities director in Aspen and has experience in water, wastewater, gas and electricity utilities. Hornbacher emphasized his interest in community-minded projects like municipal broadband, advanced metering infrastructure and customer information system remodels, as well as his dedication to climate action.

What sets him apart from the other candidates: He has experience working alongside Fort Collins Utilities leadership on the Platte River Power Authority board, since both communities get power from PRPA. He also has experience overseeing a broadband utility, which isn’t currently under the Fort Collins Utilities umbrella but could be down the road.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: He said his key strategies would be careful analysis of capital projects to ensure they’re being deployed equitably, embracing electrification while utilizing existing infrastructure and investing in conservation and efficiency.

More: Fort Collins Connexion needs $20 million funding boost for last phase of buildout

Comments on employee hiring and retention: He said he thinks attracting and keeping good employees comes down to benefits, work-life balance, quality of the community and creating a supportive environment where employees “have the opportunity to be their best, to make a difference, to go home satisfied to share something at the table with their family.” He said he prioritizes accessibility and hands-on engagement with employees.

Comments on trends in utilities: One trend he noted was the need to adapt to the future of electricity, including bidirectional flow of energy (from rooftop solar panels and vehicles to the grid, for example), energy storage and synchronizing use with the transient flow of wind and solar power.

“As I (tell) our staff at the city of Longmont, each and every day, we are building the utility of the future,” he said. “What we did in the past was very successful, but it does not guarantee our success in a much different energy future.”

Scott Kulwicki

Background: Kulwicki said he’s spent over 20 years working for NextEra Energy and Florida Power & Light, the latter of which is a subsidiary of NextEra. His career has included power plant design and engineering, leading the transition away from coal and oil to natural gas, which has relatively lower greenhouse gas emissions. He’s spent the last 10 years managing operations and developing contracts for a renewable energy portfolio of wind and solar production in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma. He said Fort Collins’ goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030 is impressive and added that he’s “embraced those disruptors to the utility sector” for the last decade.

What sets him apart from the other candidates: He has the most experience working for a major electric utility company and is one of the most experienced finalists in terms of renewable energy development. His background in mechanical engineering and power plant design is also unique.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: He said his experience has shown that utilities can invest in renewables without blowing out budgets, especially by focusing on economic analysis: For every dollar spent in capital, how does it affect the customer’s bill?

“We all want to do the right thing — we want to make an impact on climate change, and reducing your emissions is going to take dollars,” he said. “Is there going to be an impact your bills? Yes, I think there is. But we can offset (capital expenses) with gains and efficiencies elsewhere. You can do it smartly.”

Comments on employee hiring and retention: He said he’d work to create a culture where employees feel like their ideas are valued in the organization. His current employer, he said, adopted an approach giving employees at all levels an annual opportunity to submit ideas for operational improvements that helped foster an employee-centered culture.

Comments on trends and challenges in the utilities industry: He said decarbonization will pose challenges, such as strain on the grid from electrification of vehicles and the necessity of major capital expenses to continue moving to renewables and fortify infrastructure in the face of climate change impacts. He also said cybersecurity will be a big concern as utilities leverage new technologies and have to grapple with system vulnerabilities.

Kendall Minor

Background: Minor started his career working in design for stormwater, wastewater and water treatment projects and later took a position for Southern Company, one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S. He’s been involved in environmental regulatory compliance and oversight of construction projects, and ultimately he rose to portfolio leader of the power company. He said he’s now vice president of Cherry Street Energy, a renewable energy company that develops solar power projects for businesses, municipalities and other clients.

What sets him apart from the other candidates: He’s one of the only candidates with experience in water and wastewater as well as construction oversight. His position in a renewable energy-focused start-up is also unique. He’s one of two finalists with experience working for one of the country’s biggest electric utilities.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: He said it’s important to educate customers about the regulatory drivers when rate increases are needed and consider ways to prioritize capital spending and reduce impacts to customers. The latter, he said, could involve reversing a rate increase or even giving money back to customers if a project comes in under budget.

“We have to get with our partners and the regulatory agencies to (come up with) a long-term strategy so that we're not impacting our customers and our clients in a negative way,” he said.

More: Platte River Power Authority seeks out solar contracts to reach 54% renewable electricity

Comments on employee hiring and retention: When he worked at Southern Company, he said he focused on community outreach with younger people who might be interested in pursuing trade school rather than college, working to introduce them to the idea of a career in utilities. He said he’d pursue the same approach here.

Comments on trends in utilities: He said one of the most important trends is the move toward renewable power, along with innovative technology like integrated microgrids, battery storage and hydrogen energy storage. He added that his current focus on renewable power and experience with customer-oriented work makes him well-suited for the transition.

Tiana Smith

Background: Smith spent 10 years with Fort Collins Utilities, primarily in finance and account management. She said she has a lot of experience in customer behavior and understanding how to engage customers to help meet utility goals. She’s spent the last four years working in human resources, energy efficiency and creating climate strategy for Vermont Natural Gas, which is working toward a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

What sets her apart from the other candidates: She’s the only one who’s worked at Fort Collins Utilities. She’s also got unique experience in account management, having overseen relations with Utilities’ largest accounts, and creating climate strategy for a utility.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: She said it’s important for the department’s leaders to think about how utility bills can place a burden on household costs. She said she’d focus on enhancing conservation, prioritizing capital projects to manage expenses and looking for investments to lower long-term costs, similar to Fort Collins’ undergrounding of electricity lines.

Comments on employee hiring and retention: She said this has been a focus in her current role, and her two main strategies are building a talent pipeline and engaging employees with “meaningful work that makes them feel rewarded and recognized.” To build a talent pipeline, she’d focus on strengthening relationships with local schools and Colorado State University and creating more mentorship opportunities.

Comments on trends in utilities: She agreed with other finalists’ comments on the renewable energy transition and added that “we've done a really good job of setting mid-century goals. But I think we're starting to feel competing pressure as to whether that's urgent enough. Do we need more aggressive climate policy? I think that's going to continue to be a competing pressure that we, as a big part of emissions, are going to be faced with.”

Jacy Marmaduke covers government accountability for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @jacymarmaduke. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Get to know the 5 finalists for Fort Collins Utilities director