​Name: Steve Johnson, federal employee

Title: Acting Senior Vice President and Colorado River Storage Project Management Center Manager

Location: Montrose, Colorado

​Region: Colorado River Storage Project Management Center

When did you start working with WAPA? I started working for WAPA in July of 2000 in Loveland, Colorado, as a dispatcher.

What is the most interesting thing you have worked on at WAPA? I'm actually working on it right now: the Mountain West Transmission Group. The potential of bringing a second regional transmission organization to the western interconnection has implications for decades to come in our industry. Being a part of ​the negotiating team for WAPA has been a great learning experience as well as an interesting process. We are considering everything from governance to system operations in an RTO, all in addition to ensuring we are making decisions that bring value to our customers.

What do you wish people understood about your job and the work you do? I wish people understood the complexity and amount of details and issues that surround delivering energy to satisfy our firm electric service obligations. We interface with Operations and Reclamation on a daily basis to ensure operational, environmental and contractual obligations are met. We also interface with our firm electric customers directly, putting a face with the WAPA name. Managing all the various impacts on our ability to serve our customers is very challenging.

Tell us something about yourself we wouldn't find on your resume. I'm a bit of a gearhead. If it burns gasoline, I usually enjoy messing with it. I also have five grandkids.

How is what you do tied to WAPA's mission? Our function is where the rubber meets the road for power marketing. We work in concert with many other groups within WAPA and the Bureau of Reclamation to ensure we succeed in our mission to deliver federal hydropower.