About Me
I am running for my second term on the Truckee Donner PUD Board. I currently serve as President of the board (for the second time). Some things the PUD has accomplished during my tenure include:
- We have signed a long term solar power purchase agreement with the Navajo Nation, which brings our renewables up to 75% of our power mix, nearing 100% during the daylight hours. This is real progress!
- Creating our first 5 year strategic plan, a living document that will allow us to elevate (or downgrade) projects and policies as circumstances change, always keeping our Values and Mission at the fore.
- We have joined forces with the Town and the Fire District on renewable biodiesel for our fleets, sharing costs and benefits to bring the project to life.
- We are in the process of creating a regional collaboration called the Climate Transformation Alliance, the goal of which is to reduce regional green house gas emissions by sharing information and aligning our projects, policies and procedures. We also hope to create new partnerships to bring projects to fruition more quickly.
- We have updated and upgraded our website, including a more functional outage map, with the goal of being more user friendly.
- We have added Nixle alerts in response to community demands for more timely outage updates.
- We have elevated the conversation around local power generation and are more actively exploring viable options for our community, with reliability and security as the driving need.
- We have created a Broadband Initiative, in collaboration with the community members, to bring high speed, reliable, affordable broadband to our entire community.
- We have won awards for Financial Transparency and Excellence, for Reliability and Safety and for Transparency in Government. I am very proud of the work that our employees do, day in and day out, to deliver high quality energy and water to this town. They are true, everyday heroes!
- I have lived in Truckee for 26 years. My husband Dean and I have owned and operated the Pour House wine shop downtown for over 17 years. We have two children, one at Truckee High, the other at UC Davis. In other words, I am as invested in this community as it is possible to be.
- I graduated in 1993 with a BA from Boston College. My very first job out of school was as camping guide crisscrossing our country and I was stunned by its beauty and diversity. I have spent the past 25 years trying to live a life that values and protects our incredible resources.
- Power systems are an obvious means to that end. I worked for a small wind energy startup here in Truckee called TenderLand Power. Later, I served on the Conservation Committee that was formed by the PUD after our community rejected entering into a 50 year coal contract. I have followed local and national energy policy since that time.