Cassandra Wheeler – VIE President

Director Supply Chain Management - Southern Company

Cassandra Wheeler serves as regional director for Georgia Power’s Northwest Region. Named to that position in November 2017, her primary responsibility is for the operations, sales, customer service, economic and community development, and external affairs activities for 15 counties and over 170,000 customers in the region.

 

Cassandra began her career at Alabama Power in 2001 as an engineer at Miller Steam Plant. She also served as the plant’s Maintenance Team Leader and Operations Team Leader. She was selected as the Assistant to the Executive Vice President of Generation for Southern Company in 2003, and as Assistant to the Vice President of Governmental Affairs in Washington, DC, in 2005. In 2006 and 2007, she served as the Operations Supervisor and then the Compliance and Support Manager at Plant E. C. Gaston and was selected as the Maintenance and Engineering Manager at Georgia Power’s Plant Yates in 2009. Later in 2009, she served as Maintenance Manager at Plant Miller. In 2012 she was named Plant Manager of Gadsden Steam Plant and served in that role until she became plant manager at Plant Hammond in May 2014. Plant Hammond was awarded the Exceptional Plant Award for reliability in 2015 under her leadership.

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Cassandra honorably separated from the United States Air Force after more than six years of service as a B-1B avionics technician to pursue a degree in electrical engineering and is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a Master of Business Administration degree.

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Cassandra is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Rome Floyd Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Georgia Northwest Technical College, as well as Open Door Children’s Home, and YMCA. 

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Iliana Rentz – VIE Vice President

Head of Vegetation Management, NextEra Energy

Iliana Rentz directs the enterprise-wide vegetation management program for over 70,000 miles of overhead lines across 47 states and 4 Canadian provinces.  Before that, she was Emergency Preparedness Manager for Florida Power and Light (FPL), where she managed the preparedness and response plans and processes during Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. She also served a critical role in the restoration efforts for Hurricanes Maria and Michael. During her time in Emergency Preparedness,  Iliana was selected to serve as a Catalyst team member during Accelerate 1.0 and as the Power Delivery Accelerate 3.0 lead.

 

Iliana joined FPL in 2005 as a finance analyst in Distribution and worked on financial and operational projects. She then became a project coordinator involved with resource planning, financial controls, and other business services activities. In addition, she served as a production lead supervising crews and was a core team member in the development of the Smart Streetlights project, which included the deployment of over 700,000 smart nodes. 

 

Iliana holds a bachelor’s degree from American University’s Kogod School of Business and a specialization in civil-military operations and infrastructure development from the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. a 12-year Army combat veteran with distinction, having received numerous meritorious awards including a Bronze Star and a Combat Action badge. She holds certifications as a Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Prosci Change Management Practitioner, and in Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).

 

Iliana is the vice president of Veterans in Energy and the immediate past president for VETNEXT, Veterans of NextEra, and has held various leadership positions through several industry associations.

 

She and her husband live in West Palm Beach with our two children, three dogs, and 20 chickens.

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Hal Pittman – VIE Founder and Past President

Director at Defense Media Activity

Mr. Hal Pittman is a member of the Senior Executive Service, appointed as Director of the Defense Media Activity in 2021. In this role, Pittman leads 1500 people at 45 worldwide locations providing satellite television, radio, internet, and multi-media content and services for the Department of Defense’s 2.6 million military members, reservists, and civilian employees.

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Prior to DMA, Pittman served as an executive with Arizona’s largest energy company, Arizona Public Service. Previously, he was President & CEO of Special Olympics Iowa, leading sports training and wellness efforts for 11,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities, and prior to that, he served a full career as a U.S. Navy officer in assignments all over the world, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. In uniform, Pittman led public affairs for some of the military’s most visible operations, including serving twice as Communications Director at the U.S. Central Command; leading NATO and U.S. communications in Afghanistan; commanding the Joint Public Affairs Support Element, and serving as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon.

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Pittman has also founded and advised multiple non-profits, including serving as Founding President and Board Member of Veterans in Energy, a national non-profit organization focused on professional development for veterans in the energy field. He is a recipient of the Amateur Athletic Union’s Brother Bennett award for volunteerism, as well as the Arizona Governor’s Lifetime Community Service Award.

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Pittman earned his undergraduate degree from Appalachian State University, a master’s degree from American University, was an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow in foreign politics and international relations and is a graduate of the Dartmouth Tuck Advanced Management Program. He resides in the Washington, D.C. area with his family.

 

Kelcey Brown – VIE Treasurer

President and CEO, MidAmerican Energy

Kelcey Brown was named President and CEO of Mid-American Energy in February 2021. Previously, she was the Vice President of Energy Supply Management at PacifiCorp Energy, based in Portland, Oregon. She previously had held other regulatory, commercial, and operational roles at PacifiCorp., which she joined in 2011. 

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Brown has also been a senior economist at the Oregon Public Utility Commission, and Economist at Blackfoot Telecommunications and she has served on a number of state and regional technical committees.  Her educational background is in Regulatory Economics from the University of Wyoming and she served in the US Navy as a Photographer’s Mate on board the USS Nimitz for the majority of her enlistment.

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Howard Gartland – VIE Secretary

President – Mesa Technical Associates, Inc. and Mesa Veterans Power, LLC.

Mr. Gartland brings more than 30 years of experience in Engineering and Power Electronics Sales and Executive Management to the Mesa Team. He has spent over 30 years in the power and power electronics industry and is a founding member of Mesa. Today Mesa is a thriving enterprise with approximately $20m in sales and is well regarded as a technical and thought leader throughout the DC/Critical Power and Energy Storage Industries.

In 2011, Mr. Gartland formed Mesa Veterans Power, LLC (MVP) in order to merge his business interests with his experience as a veteran of the US Army. Howard has been in the critical power industry for 30 years and is an expert in the application of large-scale battery systems in support of Distributed Energy Resources that support the evolving electric grid. He is passionate about the opportunity that evolving battery technologies present for a smarter, more efficient, and more resilient electric grid in support of consumers and homeland security.

 

Mr. Gartland honed his leadership and management skills during more than 27 years in the US Army and US Army Reserve. An Engineer Officer, he is a graduate of the US Army War College, and various US Army Engineering programs, and has extensive executive experience as a Company Commander and a Battalion Commander of Engineer units, including as Battalion Commander of the 365th Engineer Combat Battalion (H), headquartered in Schuylkill Haven, PA. He culminated his 27-year career as the Assistant Director of Military Programs with the US Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, DC.
 

Mr. Gartland is married for more than 30 years with 3 children. His interests include golf, ice hockey, and fitness. He resides in Newtown Square, PA.

 

DeAnne Ostrowski – VIE Professional Development 

Director of Emergency Preparedness, Consolidated Edison Company of NY

DeAnne (Dee) Ostrowski General Manager, Consolidated Edison Company of NY (ConEd) Bronx/Westchester Electric Operations and Co-Lead Veterans of Con Edison, Inc.

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Dee has over 25 years of leadership, engineering, and utility experience.  She is currently a general manager in Electric Operations of Consolidated Edison Company of NY (ConEd).  ConEd delivers electric, gas, and steam to the five boroughs of New York City and neighboring counties.  She has been in the company for almost 20 years in various management positions from a supervisor to a general manager in Electric Operations, Utility Shared Services – Stores Operations, and Environmental Health and Safety.  Dee is the co-lead of the Veterans of Con Edison, Inc. (VOC.)  She recently spoke on the ERG panel at the Veterans in Energy conference this fall.  Dee is an alumnus of Westchester County’s Top 40 Under 40. YWCA of the City of New York Academy of Women Leaders recently named Dee a recipient of the 2019 Corporate Achievers Award for her accomplishments at Con Edison and service to her community.  In 2019 she also received the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Seven Seals Award for her dedication and energy toward Reservists.   

 

Dee is a United States Navy Veteran.  She is a 1994 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and served on active duty as a Surface Warfare Officer on the USS WASP (LHD 1) and the USS ASHLAND (LSD-48) where she did two Mediterranean Sea deployments.  She also served an additional year in an intelligence unit out of Austin, Tx. 

 

Dee is married to a fellow Navy Veteran.  She has three kids and spends a lot of time coaching high school-aged girls in softball, volunteering in the community, and mentoring.

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​Bradly Pellegrin – VIE Employee Resource Group

Senior Management Consultant, Greencastle Associates Consulting

Bradly Pellegrin is an experienced Project and Operations Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the energy management and consulting industry. He is an operations professional skilled in communication, leadership, strategy, and project management with a U.S. Army Officer Commissioning from Marion Military Institute and a BA in International Politics from Pennsylvania State University.

His military career began enlisting while still in high school to be an Army Communications soldier, 31R, in 2001. After commissioning as an Army Officer in 2004 he was branched into Infantry and led a Stryker combat team as an Airborne and Ranger qualified JCC Task Force Commander maneuvering an 800-man Iraqi police force in OIF. He transitioned out of the military in 2013, to pursue a career in the Utility Industry.

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Currently, he is influencing the energy sector by consulting on people and process improvement in numerous departments as a Senior Management Consultant with Greencastle Associates Consulting and is extremely proud and honored to be a part of this organization. Greencastle is a 100% Veteran owned and 100% Veteran employed company. He is as passionate about Veteran employment opportunities as he is about developing greater energy resiliency. Having the support of Greencastle behind him to support Veteran employment and progression in the Energy sector has been an immense force multiplier.

 

​LaVonne Rose – VIE Member at Large

Web Services Representative – Edison Electric Institute

LaVonne M. Rose is a Web Services Representative in the Communication department of the Edison Electric Institute. LaVonne joined EEI in 1987 and has held various positions throughout the organization.

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In her current role as Web Services Representative, LaVonne works in collaboration with EEI’s website manager to update and maintain content on EEI’s flagship site, www.eei.org. She provides technical content management training to EEI staff, and assists with EEI’s annual Financial Conference, and Transmission, Distribution, Metering & Mutual Assistance Conferences.

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Prior to her current position, LaVonne spent 15 years as Electronic Content & Circulation Coordinator of the energy industry magazine, Electric Perspectives. During this time, LaVonne managed the magazine’s circulation and fulfillment functions and maintained the magazine’s online presence.

 

Before joining EEI, LaVonne was a 3rd Class Petty Officer in the United States Navy from 1982-1987. She completed Yeoman Class A school in August 1982. LaVonne received orders to serve at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, OPNAV Security at the Pentagon.  LaVonne was honorably discharged in May 1987 and continued to serve in the Naval Reserves in various units until 1994.

 

An 8-year breast cancer survivor, LaVonne has raised more than $30,000 towards breast cancer research by participating in six Susan G. Komen 3-Day 60-mile walks. She also is an avid rower and member of We Can Row DC, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the joy and healing power of rowing to women of all backgrounds and abilities, in any stage of breast cancer recovery.

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Milton Buker

Contractor Operations Manager, MidAmerican Energy Company​

Milton has over 25 years of leadership and operations utility experience.  He currently leads the Contractor Operations department at MidAmerican Energy Company (MEC). MEC delivers energy to 1.6 million gas and electric customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and South Dakota. MEC is well-known for its large wind generation fleet and is a Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (BHE). Milton has been in the BHE utility companies for 20 years holding positions from a union inspector, field support supervisor, operations manager, and director of Operations.

 

Milton is one of the founders of VETRN, the veteran employee resource group at BHE and has served on the leadership team since 2019. Milton is proud to have led the effort at the BHE companies to provide employees a “best in class” Military Leave Policy which has been shared with companies across the United States. Milton created the BHE Veteran Employee Resource Groups Collaboration Network for Veteran ERG leaders to share best practices, lessons learned, and join efforts to increase the impact of veteran employee resource groups across the United States. He continues to support veteran initiatives at BHE companies, Veteran Organizations, CEWD, and Veterans in Energy. Milton’s story of how he served in the military and transitioned to an Energy Sector career is included in the book “Frontlines to Powerlines”.

 

Milton proudly served in the United States Army. He was a Heavy Engineer and after deployment injuries reclassed to Intelligence. Milton supported training efforts at the Joint Readiness Training Center focused on operating heavy equipment and land mines.

 

Milton is married with four children. His family enjoys participating in sports and frequently volunteer at community and veteran-focused events.

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Amber Fogarty

Manager of Talent Pipeline Programs, Consumers Energy

Amber is responsible for career awareness and strategic energy education programs for the company.  She also serves as the Career Awareness Chairperson for the Michigan Energy Workforce Development Consortium, working statewide to network and build partnerships that build a more qualified, diverse workforce in the industry.  Prior to entering the world of energy, Amber was a middle school English teacher and counselor.  She holds a master’s degree in School and Agency Counseling from Central Michigan University, and a bachelor’s degree in English and Communications from Aquinas College. 

 

Amber is a US Army active duty veteran.  She currently serves as a member of the Michigan Women’s Veterans Coalition, Team Rubicon, and Team Red, White, and Blue.  She is a former chair of Consumers’ Energy Veterans Advisory Panel employee resource group, where she worked diligently to register the company’s apprenticeships with the Department of Labor for GI Bill purposes.  Through this group, Amber led efforts to involve the company’s veterans in various volunteer activities including, but not limited to, Habitat for Humanity, Cadillac Veterans Park, Blue Star Mothers, Grand Rapids Veterans Home, and the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. 

 

In her free time, Amber enjoys being active.  She enjoys traveling, hiking, running, paddle boarding, and coffee.  She lives in Michigan and has two grown children; Lane and Olivia.

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Edwin King

Manager - System Integrity, Peoples Gas/North Shore Gas

Edwin is responsible for Damage Prevention and The Legacy Cross Bore Program for Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas. 

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Edwin began his career at Peoples Gas in 1989 in meter reading as a represented employee and progressed through several roles in field service operations.  He started his non-represented role in 2006 as an Operations Supervisor and held several additional leadership roles in field operations prior to his current role.  He is a retired Naval Petty Officer with 22 years of service including active duty and reserve time.  Edwin’s personal commendations include 5 Navy Achievement medals, 6 Reserve meritorious service medals, marksman pistol, and Armed Forces reserve medal with an M device.

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Edwin attended Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.   He serves on the Board of Directors for Peoples Energy Credit Union, steering committee member for WEC Energy Group’s Military Service Members Association, treasurer for the Chicago Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy and Vice President of Brookwood Point Homeowners Association. 

He enjoys biking, skating and traveling in his spare time.

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