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Commentaries and editorials

Former BPA Administrator Joins
Mid-West Electric Consumers Association

by Staff
HydroWorld, January 10, 2014

Bill Drummond (left), accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth, takes the oath of office, which was administered by Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman. (WHEAT RIDGE, Colo.) -- Former Bonneville Power Administration head Bill Drummond will take over as deputy executive director for the Colorado-based utility Mid-West Electric Consumers Association, effective March 1.

Drummond was named head of BPA in January 2013, after which he and chief operating officer Anita Decker were placed on administrative leave on July 15 shortly before the release of an investigation of BPA by the Department of Energy's Office of the Inspector General.

Per the document, titled "Review of Allegations Regarding Prohibited Personnel Practices at the Bonneville Power Administration", BPA under Drummond allegedly ignored approved hiring practices -- particularly with regard to veterans -- while also failing to address a "culture of intimidation and mistrust".

DOE gave both Drummond and Decker each 60 days to respond to offers for "directed reassignments" to Washington, D.C., in October, though both declined.

The decision opened the door for Drummond to return to the private sector after having managed the Western Montana Electric Generating and Transmission Cooperative in Missoula, Mont., prior to his time at BPA.

Drummond succeeds Thomas Graves as executive director at Mid-West, pending Graves' retirement later this year.

Related Pages:
BPA and DOE Avoid Disclosure of Public Records on Bonneville's Hiring Scandal - Again by Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian, 8/6/14
Energy Department Ousts 2 Top Officials of Bonneville Power Administration by Steven Mufson, Washington Post, 7/16/13
DOE Appoints Elliot Mainzer Interim Leader of BPA; Bill Drummond's Fate Unclear by Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian, 7/15/13


In comments he (Bill Drummond) made to the energy trade publication Clearing Up this spring, Drummond denied there was any retaliation and questioned the integrity of DOE's investigation and of Poneman, saying he declined a transfer to another position within DOE because he "would not work with a deputy secretary I do not trust or respect."
Bill Drummond quote in The Oregonian, 8/6/14

Staff
Former BPA Administrator Joins Mid-West Electric Consumers Association
HydroWorld, January 10, 2014

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