Business

2018 Women with Hydro Vision honored at special luncheon

Three outstanding members of the hydropower sector were recognized by their peers yesterday during the Women with Hydro Vision luncheon, which took place as part of HydroVision International 2018 in Charlotte.

Three outstanding members of the hydropower sector were recognized by their peers yesterday during the Women with Hydro Vision luncheon, which took place as part of HydroVision International 2018 in Charlotte.

Now in its fifth year, the Women with Hydro Vision awards program was designed to honor the most influential women in hydropower for their accomplishments and contributions to the industry.

This year’s honorees include:

  • Rita Hayen, Senior Consultant, TRC. Rita Hayen is a registered professional engineer and Senior Consultant for TRC Environmental, where she has more than 35 years of experience in permitting for hydro, other renewables and transmission projects. Notably, Rita led federal and state licensing permitting for the redevelopment of We Energies’ Twin Falls project, and she is currently TRC’s project manager for relicensing of Consumers Energy and DTE Energy’s Ludington pumped storage plant.

She serves on Wisconsin’s Alliance for Land Trusts and the Natural Resources Foundation’s board of Gathering Waters, and she was appointed as advisor to the Wisconsin Green Tier Program by the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

  • Janet Herrin, Chief Operating Officer, Bonneville Power Administration. Janet Herrin was named Chief Operating Officer of the Bonneville Power Administration in 2016, following an 11-year tenure as the Senior Vice President of River Operations and Dam Safety with the Tennessee Valley Authority.

In her role at BPA, Janet — a registered professional engineer — is responsible for power and transmission services; environment, fish and wildlife; customer support and information technology. She also oversees BPA’s new Business Transformation Office and serves as a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy.

  • Jennifer Hill, Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance (Retired), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Jennifer Hill retired from her post as Director of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance in 2017, ending a career that spanned nearly three decades. Jennifer started at FERC in 1989 as a fisheries biologist before holding managerial positions in hydropower licensing, including section chief and Northwest branch chief.

She was also instrumental in managing the “Class of 1993” licensing peak and pioneered the first alternative licensing process, first integrated licensing process and FERC’s first original marine and hydrokinetic project. Jennifer was also an advocate for pumped storage and small hydro, and contributed to a number of initiatives including the Interagency Hydropower Committee, Interagency Task Force and Annex IV IEA Ocean Energy Effort.

The recipients were nominated by their peers and selected by a panel of past Women with Hydro Vision inductees.

For a complete list of past winners, or to nominate someone for a future Women with Hydro Vision award, visit here.