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Leslie James of CREDA: Advocating for Hydroelectric Power Customers in the Colorado Basin
The power plant at Glen Canyon Dam.
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Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
6 | HYDRO LEADER | November/December 2020
Leslie James: I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and still live there. I am a fourth-generation Arizonan on both sides of my family. I went to college at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and graduated with a dual major in political science and paralegal studies.. My first job out of college was working as a file clerk for a law firm. In 1978, I started working for the Salt River Project (SRP) as a risk analyst. I had great opportunities there. I worked on the power side and in the contracts department; I didn’t have much of an opportunity to work on the water side. I managed the wholesale markets and contracts department at SRP until I left in 1998. During my tenure at SRP, I had the opportunity to represent SRP on the CREDA board of directors and served as CREDA board president from 1995 to 1996, so I got to know the organization while I was hydroleadermagazine.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.
he Colorado River Energy Distributors Association (CREDA) is a trade association that represents firm power customers of the hydroelectric facilities of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP). CREDA aims to protect and enhance the resources of the CRSP while also advocating for affordable and transparent power rates. Its efforts are carried out primarily at the federal level, where it advocates for legislation and provides input on regulatory matters. Leslie James has been executive director of CREDA for more than 20 years. In this interview, she tells Hydro Leader about the association’s work and current top issues.
