Randy Howard has been general manager of the Northern California Power Agency since 2015. He has represented public power utilities on the Western Energy Imbalance Market Nominating Committee and served on the launch committee for the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative. Prior to joining NCPA, Howard was the senior assistant general manager of the power system for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, where he worked for nearly three decades. He holds leadership positions with the California Municipal Utilities Association, Hometown Connections Inc., the Central Valley Project Corporation, and the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council’s Wildfire Working Group. He is a past board member of the Transmission Agency of Northern California. He is retiring in early 2026.
What drew you to work in public power, and what made you stay in the industry for as long as you did?
My entire working career has been public-focused. Prior to my nearly 40 years in public power, I spent six years in the Air Force. I had an opportunity to work for PG&E out of school, but I went with public power because the job offered to pay for grad school. I thought I’d only stay for the time it took to earn back that tuition support.
As an electrical engineer, LADWP was one of the most exciting and challenging places I could have gone. There were always big, new, complex projects and activities to challenge me. Mid-career, I got on the executive management track, which meant I moved to a different business unit every few years. Because the utility is so large, that kept me engaged with new opportunities to gain knowledge and expertise without leaving the organization.
Public power is so different in our goals and how we approach projects. It’s not solely about profitability, but what’s right for our communities. In LA, for a period I managed rates and contracts. Doing community meetings and outreach, as you’re looking at changing the rates, you understand how rate changes impact customers that can least afford it — those on fixed income, those who might have health concerns and need electricity just to live. That’s different than at investor-owned utilities, where they go through a regulatory agency in San Francisco, and their customers aren’t traveling there to communicate their affordability challenges. Public power has public input in the process and recognizes the value in being much closer to our customers.
Is there an accomplishment you are most proud of from your time in public power? What legacy do you hope you have left across the industry?
California sometimes looks like the strangest place to the rest of the country, but we do a lot here that trends across the U.S. In LA, I was directly involved in the shutdowns of coal plants and helping the transition to renewables and establishing the framework for lowering the city’s carbon footprint. I assisted in moving NCPA and our members even further along in that direction and showing how we could do it while keeping the cost affordable.
In my first year at NCPA, we had the Valley Fire. It almost burned down our geothermal plant, and we had employees living nearby. Many barely got out, lost their pets, their photos, everything. Since then, there hasn’t been a year without a major fire in Northern California that’s impacted one or more of our member utilities. I stepped up with the American Public Power Association and have been co-chair of ESCC’s Wildfire Working Group. Early on, we were lobbying to get more resources to help fight fires and to move along the regulatory frameworks at federal agencies for vegetation management. Now, we’re active in educating utilities on developing strong mitigation plans to reduce the risk of them igniting fires, protect their community, and recover after wildfires.
What makes for a successful leader in public power?
You have to be willing to try new things. Be the first to raise your hand and volunteer to take things on. I have been fortunate to have moved around a lot. I led the effort to build a float for the Rose Bowl parade one year, which was a big toy truck with “LADWP” written on the side. I rode in the float, and it was an incredible experience. I got to spend a week each month in Washington, D.C., working on advocacy and regulatory issues, and that’s unusual for an engineer. You can be a great engineer, but if you can’t get through the regulatory and environmental reviews, your projects are not going to happen. We used to spend 10% of project budget on those activities, now it is more like 30%–40%.
I would have never thought I’d do what I have, but it was because I was willing to raise my hand in addition to my normal duties. It gives you the opportunity to see the broader aspects of how the utility engages with the community.
Did you get any advice that helped shape your leadership focus? What advice do you have for public power leaders today?
One of my bosses at LADWP told me to not be as aggressive in my desire to move up in the organization. For a while, I didn’t grasp it. At publicly owned utilities that have active city councils and structures, it is hard to please [everyone] all the time. You will have to make decisions that might be right for the utility but not as liked by the politicians. I had to learn along the way that you need to build a foundation underneath you, and if you move too quickly it won’t be a solid foundation to stand on.
It’s not a race, but a journey. There are so many incredible opportunities if you are willing to take them. Engage with other organizations and take full advantage of those connections. It takes more than just attending a conference — be willing to share your experience as a speaker, join a committee and provide input. You’re going to get so much more because they’re all extensions of your workforce, and you’ll be a lot more successful if you share the knowledge and help others succeed.
