Travis Kavulla, a Great Falls native and former Montana Public Service Commissioner, has been selected as the next chief executive and administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that operates much of the Pacific Northwest’s power grid and supplies electricity to utilities across northwestern Montana.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced the appointment Monday. Kavulla is scheduled to be sworn in on June 29 at BPA headquarters in Portland, with Under Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit officiating.

From Montana Regulator to Federal Power Chief

Kavulla’s career in energy regulation began early. He was elected to the Montana PSC in 2010 at just 26 years old, won re-election in 2014, and served until 2019. After leaving the commission, he moved through a series of positions that gave him experience across both the policy and private-sector sides of the electricity industry, including a stint at the California Independent System Operator and work at the R Street Institute, a market-oriented policy think tank. For the past seven years, he served as a vice president at NRG Energy.

Secretary Wright said Kavulla’s broad background positions him well for the role. “Travis Kavulla’s extensive experience in the energy sector will strengthen Bonneville’s ongoing efforts to expand and modernize energy infrastructure and ensure regional grid reliability,” Wright said in announcing the appointment.

What BPA Does — and Why Montana Cares

The Bonneville Power Administration is a federal agency within the Department of Energy that markets hydroelectric and nuclear power from a network of 31 federal dams in the Columbia River Basin and one nuclear plant. It also operates the majority of the high-voltage transmission grid across the Pacific Northwest and funds one of the largest fish and wildlife mitigation programs in the world.

Montana’s connection to BPA runs deep. The agency supplies wholesale electricity to public power utilities in the northwestern part of the state, including Missoula Electric Cooperative and Flathead Electric Cooperative, meaning Kavulla’s decisions will directly affect rates and reliability for tens of thousands of Montana households and businesses.

Two major federal dams with significant Montana footprints are part of the BPA system. Hungry Horse Dam, on the South Fork of the Flathead River, contributes renewable hydropower to the regional grid BPA operates. Libby Dam on the Kootenai River — authorized by Congress in the 1950 Flood Control Act and completed in 1973 — created Lake Koocanusa, the transboundary reservoir that stretches into Canada.

The Montana PSC has been at the center of recent energy debates, including a high-profile rate case involving data centers, underscoring the ongoing relevance of utility regulation to the state’s economic and energy future.

Regional Reaction

Anne Hedges, a Montana-based environmental advocate, offered measured optimism about the appointment, saying she hopes Kavulla will help BPA serve as “a strong partner in developing the most efficient and affordable market trading system possible in the West.” The comment reflects ongoing regional discussions about Western electricity market design and how BPA, as the dominant grid operator in the Northwest, fits into broader interstate power trading.

What’s Next

Kavulla takes the helm of BPA at a consequential moment. The region is navigating growing electricity demand, pressure to expand transmission capacity, and ongoing debates about balancing hydropower operations with fish and wildlife obligations under federal law.

His background as a state utility regulator who later worked in both the private sector and at a market-oriented think tank suggests an administrator likely to emphasize grid reliability and market efficiency — priorities that align with the current administration’s broader energy posture.

For Montana, the appointment represents an unusual degree of home-state influence over a federal agency whose infrastructure and power contracts shape energy costs across the state’s western corridor. As BPA weighs major infrastructure and market decisions in the coming years, Kavulla’s familiarity with Montana’s utility landscape could prove relevant to how those decisions land locally.