Gulf Coast Power Association Honors Jess Totten With The 2009 Pat Wood Power Star Award

Pat Wood Power Star Award,

Jess Totten
2009 GCPA Power Star Award Recipient

As Director of Competitive Markets at the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), Jess Totten was the recipient of the 2009 Pat Wood Power Star Award in recognition of his significant contributions towards the advancement of competitive energy markets in the Texas. Pat Wood III, former chairman of both the Texas Public Utility Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the first Power Star Award recipient in 2006, joined a number of other past and current PUC Commissioners in presenting the award during GCPA’s 23rd Annual Spring Conference.

The award recognized Totten’s leadership while facilitating the Commission and industry stakeholders to craft the rules that defined the successful Texas competitive electric market structure. His duties also included developing Commission policy relating to retail and wholesale competition in the electric industry, electric transmission service, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

"Jess Totten’s calm and patient leadership style, combined with his persistent and tireless efforts, has been the hallmark of his time at the Commission. He effectively shepherded rulemakings and settlement discussions to create consensus while negotiating through a maze of varied interests. Jess has played a significant role in the evolution of Texas’ market- oriented rules that both protect consumers and provide certainty to market participants while epitomizing the balance and stability that all participants have come to expect from the Texas Commission," said John Stauffacher, GCPA Executive Director.