Steve Wenke

Steve Wenke is recently retired as Senior Manager of Generation Strategy and Planning for Avista. His 40 year career has involved design, management, and operation of generating assets. This has included new plant developments, major overhauls and upgrades, structural remediation projects, dam safety projects, and plant control and automation programs. He has also worked on numerous business initiatives including NERC Compliance Programs, labor management and negotiations, corporate merger teams, product development, and Asset Management and planning. He has led a team to develop a corporate Human Performance safety strategy and implementation plan and has worked with an internal group on Distributed Generating Resources. For 15 years he served as a mentor for Avista’s Aspiring Leader Program, charged with helping develop the next generation of utility leaders. He currently is President of the Hydropower Foundation. Prior to his retirement he served as Secretary for the DHS Dam Sector Coordinating Council, served as Vice Chair of the NERC GADS Work Group and NERC’s Performance Analysis Subcommittee and Electric Gas Work Group and a member of several other industry groups. He served three terms on the Board of Directors for the National Hydropower Association and continues to stay active in the organization. He has been active in R&D including serving as peer review for US DOE programs, industry advisory boards, and other efforts.