PR 04-21
BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 21, 2021
CONTACT: Maryam Habibi, 503-230-4413 or 503-230-5131
BPA names Joel Cook new chief operating officer
Portland, Oregon – The Bonneville Power Administration has chosen Joel Cook to be its new chief operating officer. Cook has served as BPA’s senior vice president of Power Services since June 2017. Cook begins his new position April 25.
“As the head of Power Services, Joel has been on the front lines of our cost-control efforts,” said Administrator and CEO John Hairston. “His leadership and experience will serve the agency and our utility customers well as we explore new energy markets and look for opportunities to maximize the value of the federal power and transmission systems.”
As COO, Cook will be responsible for the agency’s Power and Transmission services, as well as its Environment, Fish and Wildlife and Customer Support Services organizations. He will also oversee the Business Transformation Office and play a critical role in BPA’s sustained focus on disciplined cost-containment, grid modernization and customer responsiveness. Cook’s focus as COO will be on enhancing BPA’s competitiveness as the agency approaches negotiations for new long-term wholesale power contracts with its 142 Northwest electric utility customers.
“I am very excited to take on this role,” Cook said. “I look forward to building on the continuous improvement of our business operations and working closely with customers, employees and stakeholders in providing safe, reliable and cost-effective service.”
As the senior vice president of Power Services, Cook was responsible for the acquisition and sales of wholesale and bulk power; generation asset management of the federal hydropower system and one nonfederal nuclear plant; energy efficiency; and management of wholesale power contracts and rates.
Suzanne Cooper has been named BPA’s new senior vice president of Power Services and will step into the role as Cook becomes COO. Cooper has been a member of BPA’s Power Services management team for 17 years.
Cook came to BPA from Talen Energy in Allentown, Pennsylvania, one of the largest independent power producers in the U.S. Prior to that, he worked in various roles for PPL, a large electric and gas utility based in the Northeast. Cook began his career with the Montana Power Company and has spent his entire career in the energy and electric utility industry. Cook has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Montana and a Bachelor of Science in petroleum engineering from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology.
About BPA
The Bonneville Power Administration, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a nonprofit federal power marketer that sells wholesale, carbon-free hydropower from 31 federal dams in the Columbia River Basin. It also markets the output of the region’s only nuclear plant. BPA delivers this power to more than 140 Northwest electric utilities, serving millions of consumers and businesses in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana and parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. BPA also owns and operates more than 15,000 circuit miles of high-voltage power lines and 261 substations, and provides transmission service to more than 300 customers. In all, BPA provides nearly a third of the power generated in the Northwest. To mitigate the impacts of the federal dams, BPA implements a fish and wildlife program that includes working with its partners to make the federal dams safer for fish passage. It also pursues cost-effective energy savings and operational solutions that help maintain safe, affordable, reliable electric power for the Northwest. www.bpa.gov
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