Regional Transmission Organization Executive to Speak with UW MBA Students

Kara Fornstrom, the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) director of state regulatory policy, will speak with University of Wyoming Master of Business Administration (MBA) students Friday, March 19.

SPP is among 10 regional transmission organizations (RTOs) -- also known as “independent system operators” -- operating regionally in the U.S. and Canada that have a purpose to coordinate and balance the production and consumption of electricity in defined geographic areas across North America.

Fornstrom is a 1993 UW College of Business graduate. As an RTO executive, she leads SPP’s state regulatory policy efforts and supports the organization’s mission to coordinate electricity generation, transmission and consumption in its multistate service area.

She will discuss career opportunities and planning with the UW MBA students. Fornstrom also will discuss the background and purpose of RTOs in the U.S. electrical power industry, and the role of carbon sequestration technology in addressing the nation’s need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Fornstrom has extensive experience in the utility regulatory and administrative law sectors, and a proven record of generating internal and external relationships, addressing complex technical issues, and managing challenging situations.

She was the former chair of the Wyoming Public Service Commission from 2013-2020. At that time, Fornstrom served on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Board of Directors and the Committee on Electricity, and was the former president of the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners. Throughout her career, she has served on several state, regional and national related boards and committees.

Fornstrom was an attorney for Hageman & Brighton P.C. and worked in the Water Division of the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office.

She received her B.S. degree in small business management from UW and her J.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law.

For more information, email Tanner Russell, UW College of Business professional graduate programs coordinator, at trusse20@uwyo.edu.