Attorney and grid market specialist Carrie Simpson is returning to Southwest Power Pool of Little Rock to direct the nonprofit regional power transmission organization’s development of markets in the western United States.
Simpson, who spent six years at SPP before becoming western markets director for Xcel Energy-Colorado, will have the title of director of western services development starting Nov. 1, according to a company announcement.
Her job will be overseeing continued development of wholesale electricity markets in the west, where SPP has been expanding on its 17-state footprint.
“We’re very excited to welcome Carrie back,” Bruce Rew, SPP’s senior vice president of operations, said in a news release. “She has extensive knowledge and experience in operations and market design, as well as collaboration in the Western Interconnection. That equips her to guide the development of our western services in such a way as to ensure mutually beneficial solutions for current and future market participants, our entire stakeholder base and the customers they serve across North America.”
In a utility industry career of 18 years, Simpson has worked in operations, power marketing, regulatory matters and market design. At Xcel Energy-Colorado she led a cross-departmental team that analyzed and evaluated engaging in organized wholesale markets. In that and previous work at Xcel, she “established and developed strong relationships with utility representatives, state regulators and other stakeholders around the west,” the news release said.
In her previous tenure at SPP, she was manager of real-time markets when SPP launched its Integrated Marketplace, and Simpson was one key to its success, the company said. She also spent time on the market design team facilitating the drafting and development of the market rules. Licensed as a lawyer in Colorado, Simpson took her undergraduate degree at Harvard and her law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
“I’m excited to return to SPP and such an outstanding team,” Simpson said in a statement. “Developing services that address the needs of the Western Interconnection is a huge opportunity. I look forward to working with stakeholders across the west in my new role to develop solutions that support affordable, reliable electricity for the whole region.”
Simpson’s role is new at SPP, the company said, and reflects its commitment to growing its western services.
Sign up for Daily E-news
