About
Our Mission
All aspects of the electric industry, from regulations to the grid itself, are evolving at a rapidly increasing rate, and utilities are responding with creative, advanced solutions. It’s imperative that industry stakeholders have access to this information so they can make informed decisions. That’s where AEIC’s Center for Operational Excellence (Ops Center) comes in.
The Ops Center is an extension of AEIC, the electric utility industry’s leading authority for operational excellence. Through strategic workshops, AEIC member projects, publications, and other resources that are interconnected with our Integrated System Planning and Operations Data Strategy Framework, we strive to empower our industry to overcome operational challenges and harness opportunities. Our repository of resources emphasizes holistic approaches to data-driven decision-making, coordination, and impactful results that drive operational excellence.
How We’re Different
Commitment
Barriers such as funding and staffing can make it challenging for projects to get off the ground. That’s why we’re committed to supporting projects at every step, whether by assisting with idea development, pursuing matching funds, or recruiting participants.
Connections
AEIC is renowned for being the only place for electric utility operations leaders to come together to share knowledge, collaborate, and provide guidance to the industry. The Ops Center offers an opportunity for AEIC members to deepen their existing connections and develop new ones by involving non-member companies and industry stakeholders in projects.
Credibility
Founded in 1885, AEIC’s membership consists of leading operations experts from more than 185 public and private electric utilities and organizations. The work developed by AEIC and its member companies is recognized as the industry standard.
Board of Directors
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Jacob Tetlow is Executive Vice President, Operations at Arizona Public Service Company where he oversees safe, reliable and efficient operations of the company’s non-nuclear generation and power delivery systems. His team also includes resource management, supply chain, corporate safety, enterprise security, customer to grid solutions, facilities, transportation and environmental services. Tetlow has a wealth of experience in both transmission and distribution operations and fossil generation at APS.
He previously served as senior vice president of Operations, vice president of Transmission and Distribution, and general manager of T&D Operations. Prior to that, he spent 11 years in Fossil Generation, working his way up the ranks from boiler inspector to roles such as director of Gas and Oil Generation, director of Coal Generation and in various frontline and leadership positions at Four Corners Power Plant and Cholla Power Plant. Tetlow is also a member of AEIC’s Board of Directors.
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Werner Schweiger is Executive Advisor for Operations at Long Island Power Authority. He was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Eversource. At Eversource, he was responsible for all Engineering and Operations of Eversource’s Transmission, Electric Distribution, Gas Distribution, Aquarion Water, Off Shore Wind, Operations Services and Emergency Preparedness organizations. In this role, Schweiger ensured the delivery of high-quality water, reliable electricity, and natural gas to over 4 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
With more than 40 years of utility industry experience, he has held management positions in Gas and Electric Operations, Engineering, Construction and Operations Services. A transformational leader, Schweiger has led a number of initiatives following mergers and acquisitions achieving cultural, financial and operating performance enhancements. He currently serves on AEIC’s Board of Directors as Past President.
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Archie Collins is President and Chief Executive Officer of Tampa Electric Co. He has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to joining Tampa Electric, Collins served in leadership roles at Nova Scotia Power and Emera Energy, as President and CEO of Grand Bahama Power Co., and as President and COO of Emera Caribbean. Most recently, he served as COO of Tampa Electric.
Collins currently serves on the Board of Directors for AEIC. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council,the Florida Council of 100, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Tampa Bay Economic Development Council, Enterprise Florida, and Tampa Theatre.
AEIC Leadership
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Mr. Hauser serves as the CEO of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (AEIC). Prior to AEIC, Hauser served as the CEO of the GridWise Alliance, a national industry led organization that promotes the modernization of the nation’s electricity infrastructure. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert on transforming the power sector to meet future economic, environmental, and energy security mandates.
For more than 30 years, Mr. Hauser has been a leader in clean energy and smart grid technology development efforts including solar, wind, batteries, electric vehicles, GIS software, geothermal, microgrids, fuel cells, and building energy efficiency. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and has authored and contributed to numerous articles and books.
Mr. Hauser was the driving force behind the creation of the GridWise® Alliance, the Global Smart Grid Federation, and related smart grid organizations. Since 2000, he has brought together hundreds of companies to create a broad industry vision to transform the electricity sector, policies, markets, and technologies.
Mr. Hauser has testified before both House and Senate Energy committees, significantly raising the visibility of these issues with federal and state policy makers. He participated as a key advisor to the National Science and Technology Council’s Smart Grid Task Force resulting in the White House release of the “Policy Framework for a 21st Century Grid”. He has held senior management positions at various companies and DOE labs.
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Elizabeth Cook, Ph.D is Vice President of Technical Strategy at AEIC. In this role, she lead strategic initiatives focused on electric energy innovation and operational excellence. She collaborates with AEIC’s technical committees, member companies, and industry partners and manages funded projects under the Ops Center to address opportunities and challenges related to generation, transmission, distribution, storage, safety, and customer service.
Prior to joining AEIC, Cook served as Director of Advanced Grid Systems and Grid Modernization for Duquesne Light Company (DLC), where she led organizational change within operations and planning to transform DLC into a digitally forward utility. Her expertise in fostering collaborations with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, from local to federal levels, as well as academia and industry, was crucial in driving advanced grid solutions and envisioning the future of the power grid.
Cook hosts AEIC’s Grid Mod Pod, a podcast series where she sits down with electric power executives and experts to lead conversations that challenge the way the industry thinks about the power grid. In addition, she is a mother of six, a business owner, an adjunct professor, and a published author. She holds a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
About AEIC
AEIC (Association of Edison Illuminating Companies) holds a unique and important position in the electric industry today as the only place where leaders from most major electric utilities come together to share knowledge, collaborate, and provide guidance to the industry. Our members rise to challenges, accelerate opportunities, and achieve excellence in all aspects of generation, transmission, distribution, and storage of electric power for the benefit of all members, the industry at large, and consumers, worldwide. As the industry’s longest-serving and preeminent association, founded by Thomas Edison, we’ve been leading the way since 1885.
