Kevin Coffee is the Senior Vice President of Market Operations at ZGlobal Inc., with more than three decades of hands-on experience in the energy industry. He began his career as an electrical design engineer at Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s (PG&E) Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. Following his work at Diablo Canyon, Kevin supported the implementation of PG&E’s first generation of Energy Management System (EMS) real-time power system applications used to monitor PG&E’s generation and transmission systems.
Kevin also worked in PG&E’s power and transmission contracts department, where he negotiated and administered both FERC- and CPUC-jurisdictional contracts and provided testimony related to PG&E’s electricity procurement operations under the California Public Utilities Commission’s Energy Resource Recovery Account (ERRA) and Energy Cost Adjustment Clause (ECAC) proceedings. In 2001, Kevin led efforts to reestablish PG&E’s electricity procurement desk to manage PG&E’s diverse generation fleet, including hydro, natural gas, nuclear, qualifying facilities, and renewable resources interacting with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market.
At ZGlobal, Kevin is responsible for leading the Electric Operations team, which delivers custom-designed operational services to clients across CAISO, the Western Interconnection, and ERCOT. These services include day-ahead and real-time energy scheduling, reliability services, portfolio management, power purchase agreement support, outage management, curtailment-induced re-dispatch, load forecasting, Congestion Revenue Rights (CRR) management, Resource Adequacy, implementation of bidding and scheduling strategies, transmission and generation operations, and enterprise energy management.
Under Kevin’s leadership, ZGlobal’s operational services now span the entire Western Interconnection and ERCOT, including the real-time management of approximately 3,500 MW of load and more than 10,500 MW of generating resources across these regions.
Recent Accomplishments
El Centro Energy Storage
Kevin led the development, design, and implementation of one of the first standalone energy storage projects, which began operation in 2016. The project is a 30 MW lithium-ion energy storage facility located within a Southern California utility’s balancing area, designed to enhance solar integration and overall portfolio performance. Kevin served as the overall project manager, overseeing design, procurement, integration, construction, and commissioning. He also gained early operational experience managing large-scale solar and energy storage projects as the market evolved toward co-located systems.
Marin Clean Energy & Pioneer Community Choice Aggregator
Marin Clean Energy selected ZGlobal to manage its load and resource portfolio and provide ongoing operational services as part of its effort to deliver cost-effective renewable energy to the communities it serves. Kevin has supported both Marin Clean Energy and Pioneer as they expanded their portfolios and geographic footprints. Under his leadership, ZGlobal provides the following services:
- Scheduling
- Settlements
- Load Forecasting
- Risk Management Policy Developing
- Congestion Revenue Rights (CRR) Management
- Transmission and Generation Operation
The Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN)
Kevin developed MEAN’s risk management program for energy procurement on behalf of more than fifty member communities across Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming. The program addresses energy procurement, financial transmission rights, transmission congestion rights, and auction revenue rights within the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) markets.
Southwest Reserve Sharing Group (SRSG)
ZGlobal serves as administrator for the 15-member Southwest Reserve Sharing Group. During Kevin’s tenure, SRSG participation increased from 31,451 MW and 226 generating facilities in 2018 to 38,662 MW and 263 generating facilities in 2022. Participating resources include nuclear, wind, solar, hydro, gas-fired, diesel, and energy storage facilities. Generation responsiveness during outage events improved from 80% in 2018 to 91% in 2022.
Education
Kevin is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California and holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from New Mexico State University.