Ian Yeates has worked at SaskPower since 2000, largely in the areas of strategic planning and rate regulation. In 2013 he assumed his current role as Director, Supply Development Carbon Capture. Prior to this, he was SaskPower’s General Manager, Corporate Planning and Rate Design.

Ian’s work with strategic planning has closely involved him with developments in the industry on a wide number of areas. In particular, the development of a generation plan, along with fuel supply initiatives has been critical to SaskPower’s future. 

Ian has been involved with the development of Saskatchewan’s rate regulatory process from its inception, in its current form, over the past decade.  The system is unique to Saskatchewan, with the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel serving as an advisory body to Cabinet.  Ian has managed the utility’s portion of the process in terms of preparing the rate applications and working collaboratively with the Panel in setting up public meetings to present the details of the application, as well as working with the Panel’s consultants.  The current process was largely his creation in concert with the Panel members.

Ian’s current duties involve ongoing work with the world’s first utility scale post-combustion carbon capture plant at Boundary Dam.  Key responsibilities include engineering support to onsite plant staff, analysis into future carbon capture investments for the balance of SaskPower’s coal fleet, and dealing with various issues associated with the first project. 

Prior to his appointment at SaskPower, Ian worked at Crown Investments Corporation, the holding company for Saskatchewan’s Crown corporations sector from 1997 to 2000.  Immediately prior to that, he worked as the City of Waterloo’s budget manager in Ontario, for approximately eighteen months from 1996 – 1997.  Ian’s first career was with the Royal Canadian Navy, where he served as a Supply Officer, responsible for all financial and logistical matters at various levels and roles from 1979 to 1996. 

Ian holds an honours degree in history from the Royal Military College in Kingston (1979), as well as an MBA from Queen’s University (1993), also in Kingston.   He is presently working on his MA in history for fun.  Ian is married, has three grown children and two step-children and lives in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Rajnish Barua, Ph.D., has been the Executive Director of the National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) since April 2012.  NRRI, an independent non-profit corporation, primarily serves state utility regulators in the United States by producing and disseminating relevant research that provides the analytical framework and practical tools necessary for regulators in their decision-making process. He has nearly three decades of experience in the energy and regulatory fields and previously worked as:

• The Executive Director of the Organization of PJM States, Inc. (OPSI), an association of the utility regulatory commissions of 13 states and the District of Columbia;
• The Energy Advisor to the chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission;
• The Director of the Integrated Resource Planning Division in the Maryland Public Service Commission; and,
• The Regulatory Policy Administrator in the Delaware Public Service Commission.

Dr. Barua’s experience includes regulatory policy, restructuring of the electric industry, regional energy markets, and other related matters. He has appeared before several regulatory commissions and state legislative committees.  He has provided training and technical assistance to energy regulators of over 25 nations, primarily from Africa, the Caribbean region, Eastern Europe, and South Asia, and has published and presented in regional, national, and international conferences. He is a Senior Fellow at the University of Florida’s Public Utility Research Center. He serves on the Advisory Committee of the National Utilities Diversity Council and served on the Operating Committee of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.  He earned a doctorate from the University of Delaware specializing in energy policy, and has supervised graduate student research and teaches courses in electricity and regulatory policy.

Kenneth J. Nemeth joined the Southern States Energy Board in 1972 and has served as Secretary and Executive Director since February 1975. He is responsible for the direction, formulation, development, demonstration, and implementation of all Board programs, and currently manages a portfolio in excess of $456 million. During Ken Nemeth’s tenure, the Board has undertaken initiatives in a wide range of energy and environmental policy and technology areas. He currently serves as the Principal Investigator for numerous projects and public/private partnerships funded by the energy industry and by the U.S. Department of Energy with over 125 participating organizations.

Mr. Nemeth is a graduate of the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, and is the honored recipient of a Doctor of Science degree (honoris causa) from the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky.