Gulf Coast Power Association Honors David Maggio With The 2020 Empowering Young Professionals Award

The Gulf Coast Power Association (GCPA) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the selection of David Maggio as the 2020 recipient of the GCPA emPOWERing Young Professionals Award.  This award is presented annually to an individual under the age of 40 who has achieved excellence in the electric power industry, making unique contributions to the success of the electric power market and serving as a role model and leader for others.

Maggio has been directly engaged with the ERCOT market as an ERCOT staff member since 2007.  In his current role as Director of Market Design and Analytics, his group is primarily responsible for investigating ERCOT wholesale electricity market trends and design changes and for validating day-to-day wholesale market outcomes.  He is currently focused on developing policy and rules for the implementation of real-time co-optimization of energy and ancillary services and the integration of energy storage resources.  Maggio has also played a key role in the evaluation of reserve requirements for the ERCOT region, the integration of intermittent renewable resources, operation and analysis of the congestion revenue rights market, and systems and rules development for the ERCOT nodal market.  He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004 and 2006, respectively.

“Dave has been making important contributions to ERCOT since he joined us,” said ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness.  “His depth of knowledge and skills in communicating complexity and solving problems make him an important resource for all participants in the ERCOT market.”

“During my involvement in the Texas electricity market, I have only met a handful of people that are able to combine market design fundamentals with computer systems and the physics of electricity,” said ERCOT Vice President of Commercial Operations Kenan Ögelman.  “I count Dave Maggio among that handful.”

“I had the opportunity to offer Dave his first job after graduating college and quickly learned that there was no challenge too big for him,” said Maggio’s former boss and current Vice President of Market Operations at LCRA John Dumas.  “In the early stages of the nodal market design, Dave was assigned the task of testing and preparing generators for nodal operations.  His efforts to ensure units could receive and respond to nodal control signals was key to the seamless transition from zonal generation control to nodal generation control.” Dumas added that Maggio demonstrates the highest degree of professionalism, is quick to help market participants and continues to be a major contributor to the success of the ERCOT market.

Katie Coleman, Partner at Thompson & Knight and GCPA Board President, observed, “Dave really exemplifies what the emPOWERing Young Professionals Award is about.  He is extremely knowledgeable, dedicated to his work, and takes on responsibility far beyond his years.  He is already providing leadership on high-priority projects like ERCOT’s implementation of real-time co-optimization.  Dave is also a pleasure to work with as a person, and definitely has a bright future ahead of him.”  This view was seconded by Mark Dreyfus of MD Energy Consulting and GCPA Vice President: “Dave Maggio displays an extraordinary combination of technical, leadership and communication skills.  Those of us who have been around for a while helped to get the modern ERCOT going.  Now it’s time for a new generation to lead both the ERCOT organization and the ERCOT marketplace through a modern set of challenges.  Dave has applied his skills and leadership not only in the ERCOT organization, but also to the larger marketplace.  He has demonstrated the very qualities and accomplishments that the emPOWERing Young Professionals award was created to recognize.”

The award is only eligible to someone that is a GCPA individual or corporate member and must be less than 40 years old at the end of the previous year. The nomination criteria include the following:

• Career Progress
• Industry Involvement
• Leadership Development
• Innovation
• Be well-respected and in good standing within the community
• Serve as a role model for other young professionals
• Demonstrate noteworthy professional and personal achievement
• Demonstrate commitment to excellence and proven leadership
• Exhibit expertise, passion and the ability to inspire others

About the Gulf Coast Power Association (GCPA)

GCPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and sustaining a healthy competitive power market. GCPA represents a broad spectrum of segments within the electric power industry and provides a forum for its membership of over 130 corporate and 300 individual members to discuss wide-ranging issues pertaining to the evolving electric market in Texas, the Gulf Coast region and Mexico. For more information, please visit www.gulfcoastpower.org.