Priti Patel, vice president, chief transmission officer, Great River Energy
Priti Patel is leading efforts to deliver electricity now and in the future to about a third of Minnesotans as the new vice president and chief transmission officer at Maple Grove-based Great River Energy.
Patel worked with Great River earlier in her career, which includes more than 20 years of industry experience.
Great River, owned by 28 cooperatives, serves about 1.7 million people from the Twin Cities' suburbs to northeastern and southwestern Minnesota.
"My division ensures the reliable operation of Great River Energy's 4,772-mile transmission system and 101 transmission substations so that we can continue to deliver low-cost energy to all of our member cooperatives," Patel said.
Patel oversees construction, maintenance and repair of the transmission system and provides strategic direction for its growth and evolution. Patel previously was regional executive to the North Region and executive director for transmission system planning and competitive transmission for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the grid operator for 15 central states and Manitoba, Canada.
She began her career as a lawyer in private practice and an attorney in the Minnesota attorney general's office before serving as assistant general counsel and in roles in transmission development and corporate strategy and planning at Xcel Energy. Patel has a business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a law degree from what is now Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
Q: What brought you to Great River Energy?
A: First and foremost my values align with the values of Great River Energy. It delivers essential services to its members through a focus on environmental stewardship, community and a healthy workplace. … The other piece that's very appealing to me in my role is I get to have an opportunity to help Great River Energy shape its future.
Q: What are your goals with the organization?
A: With the changing generation mix driven by the retirement of coal or what they call central station generation and the emergence of distributed variable generation like wind and solar, that requires us to adapt our planning assumptions.
Q: What prompted you to focus your career on the electric industry?
A: If you enjoy a complex policy, regulatory and multidisciplinary practice this is the industry for you. It's addictive. … You can spend decades in the industry in a variety of different roles as I have done simultaneously learning and adding value. Many of the issues and challenges we face have no clear answers and require innovative thinking, collaboration and cooperation.
Todd Nelson
