Laura Manz
Laura Manz joined the California Independent System Operator (California ISO) in August 2008 as Vice President Market and Infrastructure Development. This newly created division of the California ISO blends two previously separate divisions with the goal of achieving more effective infrastructure planning through the use of efficient markets.
Most recently, Ms. Manz was with Sempra Energy as Director of Regulatory Affairs for San Diego Gas & Electric Company and Southern California Gas Company, where she oversaw interactions with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the California ISO. She began her electricity career in the early 1980s at Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) which includes New Jersey's oldest and largest combined gas and electric utility. Ms. Manz held various technical and managerial positions, including Director of Inter-Regional Transmission, Manager of Transmission Planning and Senior System Operator.
Ms. Manz was an active participant in the transformation of PJM to an Independent System Operator (ISO), helping to establish fair rules for competition across all industry sectors – generation, demand response and transmission - based on an open spot market, locational pricing with multi-settlements, congestion management with financial transmission rights, and support for retail choice. She also served on the steering committee responsible for developing coordinating markets, planning, and operations for the ISOs of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Ms. Manz has been involved in various reliability activities of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
Ms. Manz received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at Lafayette College and Master in Business Administration from Drexel University.
Ms. Manz has been a speaker and chair at numerous conferences and workshops dealing with electric restructuring, focusing on retail and wholesale restructuring, pricing rules, settlement systems, and reliability and planning issues. She is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is listed in Who’s Who of International Professionals and is a recipient of the Tribute to Women in Industry (TWIN) award. Her work has appeared in The Electricity Journal and the working papers of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group. She is an active community service volunteer with organizations such as the Coastal Cleanup Committee, I Love a Clean San Diego and the Girl and Boy Scout organizations.
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