NEWS FROM WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 16, 2006
CONTACT : Jennifer Neville, 720-962-7054, neville@wapa.gov
WESTERN RECOGNIZES OLATHE RESIDENT FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE
LAKEWOOD , Colo. — Olathe resident Ken Otto will receive Western Area Power Administration's highest honor at a ceremony May 18 at Western's Colorado River Storage Project's Energy Management and Marketing Office, in Montrose , Colo. Western's Administrator Mike Hacskaylo will present Otto with Western's Exceptional Service Award during the ceremony.
"I congratulate Ken Otto for making outstanding contributions to Western. Ken exemplifies the values we have outlined in our People Goal by serving his customers and peers with great dedication. His multiple accomplishments remind us of the wide reach our organization has in our industry, our service territory and our nation," Hacskaylo said.
Twenty-six years since his Federal induction, Otto is now the lead Energy Management and Marketing specialist at Western's EMMO, in Montrose , Colo. , heading up the office's real-time merchant activities.
In addition to his teamwork on the phase shifting transformer installation on the TOT2A Project, the Kayenta Series Capacitor Project and the EMMO's relay and control system update, Otto was instrumental in successfully integrating the Loveland Area Projects and Basin Electric merchant activities into the EMMO.
On behalf of Western, he has worked on several Western Electricity Coordinating Council subcommittees, including the Unscheduled Flow Administrative, Interchange Scheduling and Accounting and Market Interface Committee Seams Issues subcommittees. Otto worked closely with WECC staff to reconfigure the Unscheduled Flow Program so that it would accurately reflect scheduling zones and energy flows within Western's operational territory. He continues to help the EMMO operate within the Unscheduled Flow Program.
Originally from Albuquerque , Otto graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1983. He and his wife Vickie live in Olathe , Colo. , and love spending time with their adult children, Leah and Michael. Otto also enjoys fly fishing, playing ice hockey, traveling, gambling, camping and reading. He is also very active in community activities. He coaches youth soccer, baseball, inline hockey and volunteers with the Boy Scouts of America.
Western Exceptional Award recipients:
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Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 10,000 megawatts of power from hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 15 western and central states. It is part of the Department of Energy.
Serving the West with Federal hydropower
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