The Tacoma public utility board has chosen its next director. Next stop: City Council

The board of Tacoma Public Utilities has chosen Jackie Flowers as the organization's next director.

Flowers is the general manager of Idaho Falls Power, a position she's held for the last 12 years. If her appointment is confirmed by the Tacoma City Council, she will be the first woman to permanently hold the director position at TPU.

Flowers professional life started with a passion for water, which is what led her to pursue a degree in engineering, she said. Her career began in 1993 as a natural resources manager. From there, she moved into public works in Sheridan, Wyoming. She has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and is a registered professional engineer in the state of Idaho.

"I thought Tacoma is exciting, and there is so much opportunity there with rich resources and beautiful natural resources, and you add to that the energy in the community," Flowers said in a phone interview Thursday. "I really view the utility as a resource for Tacoma to pursue economic development activities that align with the community’s values."

The utility board voted 5-0 Wednesday to appoint Flowers. She beat out two finalists with decades of utility management experience in the Pacific Northwest: Nav Otal, the utilities department director at the city of Bellevue, and John Hairston, the chief administrative officer at Bonneville Power Administration. All three finalists were in Tacoma last week for interviews, a tour and public meet-and-greets.

Tacoma Rail, Tacoma Water and Tacoma Power make up the three organizations under Tacoma Public Utilities. Flowers has never worked for a railroad, but she's worked in both water and power utilities and has worked with a municipal fiber-optic network.

Idaho Falls has a fiber-optic network that Flowers calls "the utility's central nervous system — we could not function our utility without the fiber network — certainly not as effectively and efficiently." While Idaho Falls' network is different from Tacoma's Click network in that the city doesn't provide content, it leases space to businesses and local internet service providers, the same way Click does. Idaho Falls also recently discussed expanding that fiber system to allow residential connections, Flowers said.

"Tacoma was one of the leaders in those areas. They advanced early on in that development," she said of Click, which sells retail cable TV to customers and wholesale internet through two internet service providers.

"When you think about how much technology is shaping the electric industry both from service to customer perspectives as well as smart grid and responsive assets in the grid itself, it's really a unique opportunity to think about depths of service to customers and how you can enhance service, so I'm looking forward to being part of the conversation."

At Idaho Falls Power, Flowers also oversaw an upgrade to advanced-metering infrastructure, which uses smart meters to provide real-time data about power usage. Discussions around bringing AMI to Tacoma Public Utilities have ramped up in utility board meetings over the last year.

"We completed our AMI upgrade in 2015, so I do bring with me some lessons learned, both good and bad," she said.

In her free time, Flowers said she enjoys all things outdoors. She's active in her Rotary Club and said she's looking forward to learning more about Tacoma's arts community. She's also passionate about public service and said residents can expect to see her around town.

"I’m not one to just come and have a job. I'm one who wants to roll up my sleeves and get involved with the community," Flowers said.

Negotiations on Flowers' contract will begin shortly, and the City Council is expected to take up a vote on her appointment in June. Former TPU director Bill Gaines, who held the post for 10 years, was most recently paid $387,650 annually and was the highest paid public employee in the county.

This is the first time the council will get to weigh in on the board's choice since a city charter change in 2014 gave the council a voice on utility director appointments.

This story was originally published May 23, 2018 at 8:46 PM with the headline "The Tacoma public utility board has chosen its next director. Next stop: City Council."