Meet Brian Callnan: WEC’s New Director of Power Supply and Regulatory Affairs

Brian Callnan, who recently joined WEC as Director of Power Supply and Regulatory Affairs, is a public power lifer. He values the provision of electricity as a public good so completely that he isn’t even really sure where that value originated—but he grew up on WEC lines in Middlesex, so maybe there was something in the air. 

In any case, Callnan has spent his entire career in public power. He worked in power supply and planning roles at Burlington Electric Department and Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA), then moved just across the Connecticut River to be Vice President of Power Resources at New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC), a utility more than seven times WEC’s size. Most recently, he led the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire, a nonprofit organization similar to VPPSA. 

Callnan’s role at WEC is new, reflecting changes to the leadership structure that are designed to meet the Co-op’s evolving needs in a shifting energy landscape. Callnan joins the  management team to guide WEC toward successful regulatory compliance and power supply planning, explained General Manager Louis Porter. “We were very lucky that Brian was interested in the job, as he has extensive experience in both areas,” Porter commented. Callnan will work closely with JJ Vandette, WEC’s Director of Special Projects and Innovation (a new management position as of 2024), as well as VPPSA and Ron Shems, WEC’s legal counsel. Callnan will deepen and strengthen WEC’s regulatory engagement, help the Co-op plan for a rapidly changing energy future, and is committed to WEC’s culture of member-ownership and member engagement, Porter said.

Member Voice in Planning and Regulation

WEC’s 100% renewable portfolio and long-term contracts provide some protection against price volatility, Callnan said, which differentiates the Co-op from Callnan’s previous work in New Hampshire. “New Hampshire utilities do not have as many long-term projects in place,” he said. The Co-op has limited its exposure to the volatility of fossil fuel markets, but planning for the future means looking well ahead. Even long-term contracts have end dates, like the landfill gas-to-energy plant at the landfill in Coventry, which supplies upward of two-thirds of WEC’s power. “The process of either extending those or replacing those, or even modifying the approach, is a multi-year process,” he noted. “You don’t wait until the end to make up your mind.”

Callnan expects future decisions about contracts to be transparent and involve member engagement. Having someone in-house with power supply experience, he said, will help make sure those decisions are timely, informed, and mission-aligned. He sees helping members understand the complex world of power supply as part of the job. “I often hear that folks feel like power supply and the energy markets are complicated,” he said. “I really try to make those subjects seem less complicated so we can have good participation when discussing the pros and cons of a decision.”

And, he added, this skill supports his regulatory work as well. If Vermont’s Department of Public Service (DPS) is the citizen advocacy wing of Vermont’s regulatory structure, he explained, a healthy working partnership supports the natural alignment of WECs members and the DPS’s role. Callnan said that in his previous role at VPPSA, he enjoyed the process of working with DPS, “sharing tools and processes with the Department and taking the extra time to explain things because we all want to make sure we are benefiting the ratepayers and members as best as we can.”

Vermont and its sister state also have very different regulatory approaches to electric power, Callnan noted. And regulation significantly shapes the environment in which co-ops like WEC operate. In New Hampshire, for example, the electric cooperative is responsible for setting rates and there is very little in the process that requires state oversight, he explained. Not so in Vermont, where the Public Utility Commission (PUC) reviews all utility rate increase requests. 

Beyond rates, Vermont grapples with its responsibility as a state for setting energy policies that influence its citizens’ and visitors’ climate impact. Legislation like the Renewable Energy Standard and Clean Heat Standard are examples of this. The purpose of regulations is to set rules around legislative priorities set in law, Callnan explained. “How do those regulations impact utilities from cost, efficiency, and operational efficiency standpoints? There’s a lot there for regulators to continue to consider.” 

Regulations may incentivize or restrict certain actions, but perhaps counterintuitively, their existence is evidence of more citizen engagement—not less. Because regulations are established through rulemaking after a law is passed, there is opportunity for democratic engagement at every step. “A law doesn’t just show up and start working,” Callnan explained. “There’s deliberation on the law, deliberation on the rule, deliberation on public advocacy—every element of that is an opportunity to make sure WEC members are heard.”

Small but Nimble

“WEC is a standout in the co-op world,” Callnan said. “Co-ops struggle with getting folks engaged. Keeping membership engagement high is important for any member organization, not just the electric industry. WEC’s figured that out. It’s nice to be part of that.” Engagement shows up in multiple ways, like in contested elections for seats on the Co-op’s Board of Directors, and high uptake of renewable and efficient technologies. “There are a lot of challenges going forward, but you turn those into opportunities, and they really are,” Callnan said. “You have a membership that is really engaged with net metering, that is engaged in switching over their transportation and heating fuels to electricity all while trying to keep costs in check. All those efforts create new opportunities for WEC to work with its members to affordably adopt these technologies if they are on their planning horizon.”

This allows WEC to be nimble, and to shift gears faster than larger utilities might be able to. “We’re able to do things a little bit quicker and directly impact members. Where a utility four times the size may have trouble because it’s also going to have four times the members, and more infrastructure needed in order to meet that larger population”, Callnan said, “when you’re the size of WEC, you can do innovative things a little bit quicker.”

With staff like JJ Vandette focused on scaling new opportunities and Callnan ensuring regulatory compliance and long-term strategy, the Co-op is well-positioned to turn future challenges into community-centered innovation.

And that’s why Callnan is pleased to be at WEC. “Electricity is kind of like water: everyone needs it. So how do you take a human need and get it delivered to community members in the most efficient way, the most economical way, and if you have a renewable aspect to it, how do you do that and meet those same needs? How do you pull all that up and still not break the bank?”

That question has been a guiding one for Callnan. As a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, “you don’t have the profit aspect, and that has felt right to me.” Public ownership creates the opportunity, and responsibility, to make tangible differences that benefit members. “You manage a power portfolio and can pass those benefits directly on to everyone on the system. You don’t have many opportunities to do that in life.”

“It’s really important to me to be in public power,” he said. “And I think WEC’s a great place to participate in public power. I’m excited to be here.”