The positive way to say that would be: super self-disciplined people who love challenges.
The EISPC is to be funded by $14 million in stimulus money from the Department of Energy to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The point is to represent state interests in planning transmission facilities for the entire Eastern Interconnection, from the Great Plains to the Atlantic seaboard -- something never before tried, and incredibly complex.
The states' work will help EIPC identify renewable resources in the entire interconnection, along with related transmission issues and other factors. A major study of the whole situation will be due in 2013.
The National Regulatory Research Institute, which supports NARUC, is going to house the EISPC and its several staffers. NRRI's description of the director's job is inspiring, and daunting. The planning initiative is a "historic endeavor ... unparalleled in its scope, in the application of state-of-the art planning tools, expertise and long-term public policy ramifications." It is also "unprecedented and of vital importance to the states and the nation."
This person will have to work in Washington. He or she will have to have at least 10 years of experience in energy policy, including work with state commissions, as well as broad management experience, experience working with a diverse board, experience in operating and planning power markets, and more, including "at least a high level of understanding of the transmission-related reliability standards" that apply to the industry.
Anybody who applies for the position will already know enough to go into it with eyes wide open. This person will know about the cats to be herded: Eastern states concerned about coal and natural gas jobs, wind farm revenue, torrid transmission line battles, nuclear plant economics, tourism dollars, industrial competitiveness, power prices, plain political divisions ... and more. To the job requirements might thus be added a banality: "the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon."
