Phyllis Currie

Ms. Currie joined Pasadena Water and Power as General Manager in April 2001. In this capacity she is responsible for providing electricity to the city of Pasadena, CA and water to residents of the city and portions of Altadena, an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County. Under her leadership, the utility constructed two new electric generation units (90 megawatts) at the city-owned power plant in 2004, embarked on multi-year infrastructure improvement programs to upgrade the city’s water and electrical distribution systems, and a water treatment plant to clean up ground water contamination. During 2009, the utility developed an energy resource plan, which sets aggressive targets for greenhouse gas reduction and increasing renewable resources; and water conservation plans aimed at preserving and encouraging efficient use of dwindling water resources. A 25-year water resource plan was recently completed which aims for increasing local water supplies and decreasing the city’s dependence on imported water. She previously held the position of Chief Financial Officer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power from 1992 to 1999, where she managed the financial affairs of the utility and its financial interests in joint ventures and partnerships, such as the Southern California Public Power Authority and the Intermountain Power Project in Utah. During her 30-year career with the city of Los Angeles, Ms. Currie also served as Assistant City Administrative Officer overseeing development of the annual operating and capital budgets and as director of the Los Angeles rent control program. Ms. Currie is on the boards of the Southern California Public Power Authority; the California Municipal Utilities Association and the American Public Power Association, of which she is chair-elect. From 2004 to 2009, she served on the board of directors of the Electric Power Research Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to research for the electric power industry, during which she chaired the audit committee. She is also a member of the American Water Works Association, the Government Finance Officers Association, the American Association of Blacks in Energy and the National Forum of Black Public Administrators. Past professional affiliations include the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, and the California Debt Advisory Commission. Her community affiliations include the board of directors of the Pasadena-Foothill YWCA; the board development committee of the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles; and Pasadena Rotary. Ms. Currie earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA and a master of business administration degree from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business. She also completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.