Joseph Eto | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday appointed Joseph Eto, a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to fill a vacant seat on the CAISO Board of Governors.
Eto is a senior adviser to the Electricity Markets and Policy Department at Lawrence Berkeley, where he has worked since 1982, according to his online biography.
“Joe has authored over 250 publications on electricity reliability, transmission planning and operations, demand response, distributed generation, utility integrated resource planning and demand-side management, and building energy-efficiency technologies,” his biography on the lab’s website says.
“Between 1999 and 2020 Joe led the program office for the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions, which was a national laboratory-university-industry R&D consortium founded by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the National Science Foundation’s Power System Engineering Research Center, and the Electric Power Group that conducted research and analysis on electricity reliability and transmission technologies,” it says.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in the philosophy of science and a master’s degree in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a registered mechanical engineer.
Eto and CAISO did not respond to requests for comment in time for this story.
Eto fills a vacancy created when CAISO Governor Ashutosh Bhagwat opted not to seek another term after 12 years of service. Bhagwat chaired the Board of Governors last year; his most recent term ended Dec. 31.
“It has been a truly fantastic 12-year run, like nothing else I’ve had in my life,” Bhagwat said during the board’s last meeting of the year on Dec 15. “I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly.”
The state Senate must confirm Eto, who will earn $40,000 per year as a member of the Board of Governors in addition to per diem meeting preparation and attendance costs. His term will end Dec. 31, 2025, according to CAISO’s board roster.