GULF COAST POWER ASSOCIATION HONORS DARRYL TIETJEN
WITH THE 2021 PAT WOOD POWER STAR AWARD
Austin Texas, September 14, 2021
The Gulf Coast Power Association (GCPA) Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has selected Darryl Tietjen as the 2021 recipient of the GCPA Pat Wood Power Star Award. This award is presented annually in recognition of the honoree’s significant contributions towards the advancement of competitive energy markets in Texas.
Darryl Tietjen is the Director of the Rate Regulation Division of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), where he has been employed since 1991. During his career of over 30 years at the PUC, Darryl has worked on variety of issues that span across not only traditional regulatory issues, but competitive market issues as well. In the wake of the 1999 deregulation legislation, Darryl worked on numerous projects and cases involving the transition to a competitive electricity market, including serving as the team leader in the “true-up” rulemaking project, providing testimony in the unbundled cost of service (UCOS) rate proceedings as well as the follow-up stranded-cost reconciliation proceedings, and working on and filing recommendations on securitization issues related to every one of the PUC’s financing orders issued to date.
On the traditional rate-setting side, Darryl has led or been involved in numerous “streamlined” cost-recovery rules that the Commission has adopted in recent years, including the rules related to distribution cost recovery, transmission cost recovery, and, most recently, generation cost recovery. On the competitive-market side, he supervised the 2009 rulemaking in which the Commission established the financial qualification standards for retail electricity providers, and he also worked on developing the financial requirements for aggregators.
During his tenure at the PUC, Darryl has made presentations on a wide variety of regulatory topics to a diverse group of audiences, including those at NARUC conventions, TIEC Annual Meetings, Public Utility Law Conferences, the Southwest Electric Distribution Exchange Conference, the Texas Society of CPAs’ Energy Conferences, and GCPA luncheons.
Darryl holds MBA and BBA degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. While earning his master’s degree, he was also employed by the University’s Finance Department as an instructor of undergraduate corporate finance. Prior to attending graduate school, he was employed at a commercial bank, where he was principally involved in investment activities and financial reporting. Darryl is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst.
The award is named for Pat Wood III, former PUCT and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman who will assist in presenting the award during GCPA’s 35th Annual Fall Conference which will be held virtually on September 20-22, 2021. Pat Wood stated, “Darryl has been an essential batter in the line-up at the Commission for three decades, and in his early years there, I counted on him as a top-notch advisor and teacher. His intelligence, calm manner, dry wit and can-do pragmatism have made him an indispensable part of Texas regulation. Internally, he is a respected leader and mentor. Externally, he is a wise counsel and (at times) feared oracle. And Darryl’s firm compass has always been fixed on the Commission’s first name – the Public. Thank you, GCPA, for recognizing such a stellar man.”
Former PUC Commissioner and CEO of Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Julie Parsley, shared “From the moment I set foot in the Commission in November 2002, I developed a deep trust of, and admiration for, Darryl’s knowledge, honesty, keen sense of fairness, and quick wit. Darryl was seemingly prescient when he presented salient testimony that helped guide us through complex rate designs and intricate financial dealings, such as the early stranded cost dockets and the first securitizations that occurred in the ERCOT market. Darryl’s thoughtful leadership has been a stabilizing force for market participants over the years as he assisted the Commission in guiding the industry through restructuring and into an established, strong, competitive market. I can think of no better recipient of the Pat Wood Power Star Award than Darryl Tietjen.”
“Darryl has had a monumental impact on the industry; it’s hard to think of anyone more deserving of this award, said Katie Coleman, Partner, O'Melveny & Myers and GCPA Board President. For me personally, Darryl has been a friend and mentor for my entire career. He is an unparalleled expert in the business of utilities and has led the way in designing regulated rates to facilitate competitive markets in ERCOT. His wit and charm have won over even the toughest audiences over the years.”
GCPA Board Vice President, Mark Dreyfus, added “When I joined the Commission staff 25 years ago, Daryl was already the wise, experienced colleague I could turn to for background and insight. All these years later, Daryl continues to fill that role for an entire industry of colleagues who have been the beneficiaries of his ever-expanding wisdom."
Darryl Tietjen joins an illustrious list of past recipients including: Tom Payton, former Sr. Vice President of Occidental Petroleum (2020), Tom Foreman, former GCPA Executive Director (2019); Marcie Zlotnik, former Chairman and COO of StarTex Power (2018); Trip Doggett, former ERCOT CEO (2017); John Fainter, former President of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas (2016); Robert Webb, noted attorney and renewable energy advocate (2015); Judy Walsh, former PUCT Commissioner (2014); John Stauffacher, former GCPA Executive Director (2013); Mike Greene, former Vice Chairman of Energy Future Holdings (2012); Marianne Carroll, former Partner at the law firm of Brown McCarroll (2011); Trudy Harper, former President of Tenaska Power Services (2010); Jess Totten, former Director of Competitive Markets at the PUCT (2009); F. John Meyer, former Vice President of Regulatory & Transmission Services for Reliant Energy (2008); Sam Jones, former CEO of ERCOT (2007); and Pat Wood III, former PUCT and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman (2006).