California ISO Names Industry Veteran Laura Manz to Vice President, Market and Infrastructure Development.

FOLSOM, Calif. -- As part of the Organizational Effectiveness phase of its Five-Year Strategic Plan, the California Independent System Operator (California ISO) has created a division that blends two previously separate divisions that focused on market development and infrastructure planning. The driving force is a goal to achieve more effective infrastructure planning through the use of efficient markets. This week, the California ISO appointed a Vice President to lead the Market and Infrastructure Development Division. She is industry veteran Laura Manz.

Manz was selected by the California ISO because of her intimate knowledge of power system planning, engineering, and market development & operations, which has earned a place of distinction within the electricity industry. Manz comes from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) where she has served as Director of FERC and CAISO Regulatory Affairs for SDG&E. She has been at the forefront of California's progress toward planning for a stronger grid through transmission investment and has work toward leveling the playing field for renewable and demand response resources, while helping deploy new reliability standards.

Manz began her electricity career in the early 1980s at Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), based in Newark, New Jersey. Her areas of responsibility over the years covered transmission planning, market design, regional integration, retail restructuring, maintenance standards, power purchasing, emergency response, and power plant and system operations. She grew up in New Jersey, attending Lafayette College in Pennsylvania where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering before moving on to Drexel University for her Master in Business Administration.

The California ISO is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation charged with managing the flow of electricity along California's open-market wholesale power grid. The mission of the California ISO is to safeguard the reliable delivery of electricity, and ensure equal access to 25,000 circuit miles of "electron highway." As the impartial operator of the wholesale power grid in the state, the California ISO conducts a small portion of the bulk power markets. These markets are used to allocate space on the transmission lines, maintain operating reserves and match supply with demand in real time.