fw : energy novice to be paid $ 240 , 000 fyi . this market is crazy . . .
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from : comnes , alan
sent : thursday , july 05 , 2001 10 : 47 am
to : alonso , tom ; alvarez , ray ; badeer , robert ; belden , tim ; calger , christopher f . ; choi , paul ; dasovich , jeff ; driscoll , michael m . ; fischer , mark ; foster , chris h . ; guzman , mark ; hall , steve c . ; heizenrader , tim ; kaufman , paul ; krebs , holli ; mainzer , elliot ; mallory , chris ; malowney , john ; mara , susan ; motley , matt ; perrino , dave ; platter , phillip ; richter , jeff ; rosman , stewart ; scholtes , diana ; stokley , chris ; swain , steve ; swerzbin , mike ; symes , kate ; williams iii , bill ; wolfe , greg
subject : energy novice to be paid $ 240 , 000
good work if you can find it . . . .
wednesday , july 4 , 2001
energy novice to be paid $ 240 , 000
power : hefty annual salary goes to consultant with one year ' s experience in the field . state officials say she is doing a good job .
by jeffrey l . rabin , daryl kelley , times staff writers
the davis administration is paying a young business consultant with barely a year ' s experience in the energy industry $ 240 , 000 annually to head a team of traders who secure california ' s daily electricity supply .
state officials hired susan t . lee , 30 , in april without competitive bidding under an emergency declaration by gov . gray davis .
lee ' s contract is equal to the $ 20 , 000 a month that davis pays his chief energy advisor , s . david freeman , a top utility executive for decades .
the two - year contract will pay lee up to $ 480 , 000 to oversee the state ' s day - to - day energy purchases , totaling billions of dollars a year .
lee ' s contract reflects the pressure and difficulties the state says it faces to fill key jobs in its new role as one of the nation ' s largest power buyers , a role that it took on in january as california ' s utilities faltered .
lee ' s contract was one of about a dozen released monday , and among the largest .
reached at her sacramento office , lee would not discuss her contract . she said only that she heads a 15 - person team of traders and schedulers that works long hours to keep california ' s power flowing .
pete garris , a contracts manager for the state department of water resources who recruited lee , said he met her at industry meetings and had been impressed by her savvy .
he said he gave her a pay raise to lure her to state service in april after ron shimizu , her boss at mieco inc . , a trading firm in long beach , recommended her . shimizu refused comment tuesday .
the state , according to garris , must compete for employees against an aggressive energy industry and pay good salaries to stay in the game .
" you can consider this situation to be very extraordinary , " garris said . " unless we can get permanent and full - time positions approved , these are the rules we have to follow to be able to hire [ consultants ] . "
garris insisted that it is unfair to compare lee ' s contract with the six - month , $ 120 , 000 deal that freeman - - the former boss at several major utilities - - struck with the governor .
" i don ' t want to compare susan lee to david freeman , " garris said . " david comes from the los angeles department of water and power and susan came from a [ private ] power marketer . with susan , we just followed the standard formula . "
in her new job , lee will direct an immensely complicated , around - the - clock operation responsible for " procuring energy , scheduling power and associated transmission , and reconciling deviations between contracts and deliveries , " according to her contract .
lee ' s resume , attached to the contract , shows that she had no experience in the energy field until march 2000 , when she joined mieco . there , she was a trader and power scheduler , not a manager .
" she was only here for a year or so , " said dina alvarez , an administrative manager for the company .
a 1994 graduate of ucla with a degree in economics , she worked as a pension and benefits manager in los angeles and new york before joining mieco .
lee ' s contract stands out compared to others disclosed this week , not only for its size but for her relative inexperience in the energy field .
she is being paid $ 120 an hour and can earn a maximum of $ 480 , 000 , including expenses , by april 2003 .
another new consultant , william l . green , has almost a quarter of a century of experience working for the bonneville power administration , pacific gas & electric and the california independent system operator . he is being paid $ 85 an hour to supervise workers who reconcile the state ' s accounting of energy purchases . his two - year deal is worth up to $ 340 , 000 .
they are not alone in cutting lucrative deals .
richard ferreira , the former assistant general manager at the sacramento municipal utilities district , has a $ 500 , 000 contract and is being paid $ 200 an hour to assist the state in negotiating power purchase contracts . he worked for the department of water resources for 23 years before joining the sacramento agency in 1987 .
hardy energy consulting also has a $ 150 , 000 , six - month contract that calls for randy harvey to be paid $ 300 an hour . harvey has a quarter of a century of energy experience , particularly at the bonneville power administration , where he was chief executive officer from 1991 to 1997 .
lee ' s recruiter , garris , said her lack of experience is not a concern .
" so far she ' s done an excellent job , " he said . " she has the skills , and she has the ability . she was doing a similar job . "
dozens of consultants , including lee , have been hired since january , when davis declared an energy emergency and set up a special arm of government to buy power .
the state filled a vacuum when generators refused to sell to pg & e , southern california edison and san diego gas & electric because they were no longer considered credit - worthy , said oscar hidalgo , spokesman for the department of water resources .
hidalgo said that about 60 % of the 95 people now working for the division are consultants . the rest are state employees .
as part of the process , lee ' s unit oversees the purchase of power a day ahead of when it is needed . hidalgo said lee is involved in contracts that extend no more than three months .
copyright 2001 los angeles times