Speakers

Jonathan Aust serves as the Vice President of Power Operations for CRSP, DSW, and RMR, supporting a seven-state footprint and two Balancing Authorities that are managed from two 24/7 staffed control centers in Loveland, Colorado, and Phoenix, Arizona.   Jonathan leads a team of 80+ employees in support of the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of over 7,000 miles of transmission and delivery of energy from 34 hydroelectric power plants.  During his tenure in this role, Jonathan has lead his team through the implementation of SPP’s WEIS for the WACM BA as well the change from the Rocky Mountain Reserve Sharing Group (RMRG) to the Western Power Pool’s (WPP) Reserve Sharing Group (RSG).  Currently, the Operations team is focused on the implementation of CAISO’s EIM for the WALC Balancing Authority

Jonathan has been with Western Area Power Administration since 2001 and has worked in engineering systems, information technology, field maintenance and real-time power operations during that time.  Jonathan’s previous position was serving as the VP of IT for SCADA/EMS supporting all of WAPA’s control centers across a 15-state area.  Before starting at WAPA, Jonathan worked in telecommunications and IT at various Fortune 500 companies.

Jonathan has served in a leadership capacity on various industry Committees, including Chair of the WECC EMSWG, Chair of the WECC DEMSWG, Primary voting member for WECC on the NERC CIP Committee, WECC OC Chair, Co-Chair of the RRC and Co-Chair of the JGC.  Recently Jonathan was nominated as the Class 1 Member rep for WECC’s Member Advisory Committee and received WECC’s Outstanding Contributor Award for 2022.

Jonathan lives in Loveland, Colorado with his wife Tara and 4 children; Joseph, Alex, Nicholas, and James. Jonathan is based out of WAPA’s Rocky Mountain Regional Office located in Loveland, Colorado.