Rikki Seguin
Executive Director
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
Rikki Seguin joined Interwest as the Executive Director in April 2019, overseeing the organization’s six-state strategic agenda, managing Interwest’s team of policy and technical experts, and building political power for the renewable energy industry. With a long history working as a coalition-builder, Rikki works to develop consensus positions across the industry and within Interwest’s diverse membership.
Prior to joining Interwest, Rikki oversaw the development and implementation of a regional policy agenda to support the responsible development of renewable energy across the Pacific Northwest. Rikki also worked as a community organizer in New Mexico, California, Texas, and Oregon, focusing on clean energy and climate campaigns. Rikki has worked to develop and pass numerous renewable energy policies related to utility resource procurement, land use and siting, tax treatment, transmission line development, and community solar. Rikki holds degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Florida.
Rikki is based in Albuquerque, NM.
Anna Evans
Policy Manager
Colorado, Utah, Wyoming
Anna Evans joined Interwest as a Policy Manager in November 2023 to push Interwest’s policy initiatives in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. With experience shaping and supporting state policies, Anna focuses on building consensus and catering to the various incentives policymakers hold for developing renewable energy technologies.
Prior to joining Interwest, Anna worked as a Senior Legislative Aide in the Colorado State Senate, raising stakeholder engagement and supporting legislative policy initiative. Before that, Anna was researching electricity transmission congestion in the West at Western Resource Advocates and Energy Strategies in Salt Lake City. Anna also directed the Colorado Science and Engineering Policy Fellowship, giving STEM college students experience with science-based policymaking processes.
Anna holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a M.S. in Advanced Energy Systems from the Colorado School of Mines and is based in Golden, Colorado.
Ben Fitch-Fleischmann
Markets & Transmission Director
Ben joined Interwest as the Markets and Transmission Director in October 2023 to lead the organization’s engagement with regional market development and transmission planning issues across the West. With extensive experience conducting rigorous analyses and also explaining technical issues and results to a wide range of audiences, Ben places a high priority on ensuring that differences in technical knowledge do not hinder collaboration.
Prior to joining Interwest, Ben managed the markets and analytics team for Northwestern Energy Transmission, representing Northwestern in regional transmission planning conversations and the EDAM and Markets+ initiatives. Before that, he led Northwestern’s IRP team for 3 years. Ben has also worked as a consultant for clients including state regulatory commissions, investor-owned utilities, pumped storage developers, and consumer advocates, and served as a staff economist for the Oregon PUC.
Ben earned his PhD in economics from the University of Oregon and lives in Missoula, Montana with his wife and young son.
Sam Johnston
Senior Policy & Regulatory Manager
Arizona & Nevada
Sam Johnston joined Interwest in June 2022, and leads the organization’s regulatory and policy initiatives in Arizona and Nevada.
Prior to joining Interwest, Sam managed a team of utility technical consultants as Executive Technical Staff Director at the Public Service Commission of Utah. Before his time at the UT PSC, Sam worked in tax and securities law for a national law firm and a global accounting firm, and for four years as a bill drafting attorney and legislative counsel at the Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, where he first discovered an interest in utility planning and the energy industry as attorney to the Utah Legislature’s Public Utilities and Technologies Committee. Sam holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Economics from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, a J.D. from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, and an LL.M in Taxation from New York University School of Law.
Sam is based in Salt Lake City, UT.
Chris Leger
Staff Attorney
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
Chris joined Interwest as a staff attorney in September 2021, working on regulatory advocacy to promote the transition to clean electricity, expand renewable energy markets, and promote education about renewable energy integration and its benefits for both utilities and electricity consumers.
Prior to joining Interwest, he was Deputy Administrator and Counsel representing utility consumers for the Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Wyoming and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Wyoming College of Law. He is licensed to practice law in Wyoming, Colorado, and the District of Columbia. Prior to his current utility regulatory practice, he spent several years in Washington DC working on criminal and civil pharmaceutical cases as well as a brief stint in Hong Kong and Macau, working on various international matters.
Chris is based in Cheyenne, WY.
Lisa Tormoen Hickey
Senior Regulatory Counsel
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
Lisa Tormoen Hickey joined Interwest as Senior Regulatory Counsel in 2009. Lisa leads Interwest’s regulatory advocacy to expand renewable energy markets, promoting education about renewable energy integration and benefits for utilities, commercial interests, and electricity consumers. In this role, she works with Interwest’s members and staff, local counsel, and expert witnesses as well as collaborating partners to identify areas where policy can be improved to promote the transition to clean electricity, generated from advanced technologies and associated transmission expansion throughout the Intermountain West. She is especially interested in promoting economic development benefits in rural areas.
Lisa advises numerous nonprofit and business organizations, and has served on the boards of several nonprofits in the Pikes Peak Region, including those promoting land conservation, trails and open space, bicycling and choral music. Hickey currently serves as Transportation Commissioner for the Ninth District of Colorado, and previously served on the Colorado Transmission Siting Task Force to represent renewable energy interests.
Lisa is based in Colorado Springs, CO.
Stan Barnes
Arizona Policy Consultant
Stan Barnes is a native Arizonan and founder of Copper State Consulting Group. For the past 32 years, Barnes has been involved in virtually every facet of key political and media-related issues and is viewed as a seasoned veteran of both state and local public affairs battles in Arizona.
Before establishing the firm, Barnes served six years in the Arizona Legislature – first in the State House of Representatives where he was elected in 1988 as the youngest member of the 39th Legislature. He served as Chairman of the Natural Resources & Agriculture Committee, where he was appointed in only his second term in office. Barnes was elected to the Arizona Senate in 1994 and served as Chairman of the Government Reform Committee. In addition to running his practice, Barnes is a highly regarded political commentator, regularly appearing on Arizona television and radio news programs, as well as frequent guest editorials in state and local newspapers.
Ian Calkins
Arizona Policy Consultant
Ian Calkins has two decades of experience helping corporate energy clients receive necessary local, state and federal permits and approvals to construct utility-scale generation and transmission infrastructure projects across Arizona. These efforts include a host of strategies and tactics including political relationships, third-party support, public engagement and opposition mitigation.
Additionally, Ian’s hand is on the pulse of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) and the State’s three major electric utilities (APS, SRP and TEP) having spent years fostering relationships, influencing energy policy and engaging on behalf of energy clients. Prior to Copper State, he served as the lobbyist for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. In his past life, he worked in Washington, D.C. in various public policy and government affairs roles including Legislative Director for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Director of State Relations for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).
Brett Moore
Colorado Lobbyist
Brett began lobbying for Interwest in 2012 when he joined Charles and Solomon Malick’s lobbying team, which had been representing the association since its early days in Colorado. Since then, he has represented Interwest’s interests on a sweeping variety of clean and renewable energy legislation, as the industry has dramatically grown and changed in the state in the subsequent years.
With a track record of delivering results in communities across Colorado and at the state capitol in Denver, Brett Moore started his career as a non-partisan clerk at the Colorado General Assembly. Shortly thereafter, he founded OnTheBallot Consulting, a Denver-based lobbying and political consulting firm, where he has achieved legislative wins by building strong relationships with elected officials, staff, and other government affairs professionals. His clients are non-profits, businesses, trade associations, and local governments whose voices are amplified by his representation.
He hails from a family of farmers and ranchers in western Kansas. He holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Political Science and Communications Studies from the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!).
Sol Malick
Colorado Lobbyist
A Colorado native, Solomon Malick has been a professional contract lobbyist in the State of Colorado since 2005 and is the principal of Peak Government Affairs LTD. (PGA). He graduated with honors from Metro State University with a degree in political science, and his professional background includes working as an emergency medical technician and wild land firefighter in southwest Colorado.
Sol moved to Denver to work for his father, Chuck Malick, in 2005 to begin his lobbying/political advocacy career. The Malick duo started representing Interwest Energy Alliance in 2007 under Craig Cox with Tracee Bentley, and in 2012, Brett Moore joined the team and began to help move the Interwest agenda in a bi-partisan manner when Tracee transitioned out.
Over the past 13 years, Peak Government Affairs and OnTheBallot Consulting have moved the renewable industry forward with Interwest at the helm using sound strategy, solid legislative and administrative relationships, and deep policy expertise.
Kyle Davis
Nevada Lobbyist
Interwest is represented by Kyle Davis of Pinyon Public Affairs, a full-service strategic communications firm that empowers client success and delivers measurable results in Nevada’s complex and changing political landscape. Kyle is an experienced lobbyist and political strategist working at all levels of government in Nevada. Kyle has successfully navigated difficult issues through the Nevada Legislature, including landmark legislation dealing with energy, public lands, transportation, wildlife, land-use planning, water, and public health. Kyle regularly works with a broad set of stakeholders to bring disparate interests together for common sense solutions.
Kyle has been an independent contract lobbyist since 2013, representing a variety of clients in many different issue areas. Prior to that, Kyle served as the Policy & Political Director for the Nevada Conservation League, where he directed all of the program work for the organization for nearly seven years. Kyle has been a registered lobbyist at the Nevada Legislature since 2007 and has been working in the political space for more than twenty years.
Deborah Condit
New Mexico Lobbyist
Interwest has been represented in the New Mexico legislature by Deborah Condit since 2017. With twenty years of experience working on the Federal, State and Local levels, she is a leading provider of government relations on a broad range of issues.
Deborah graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in print journalism. She began working on political campaigns in 2000 and maintains bipartisan relationships with legislators. With experience gained as an analyst with the legislative Tax and Revenue, and Business and Industry Committees, she started her own consulting firm in 2005. She has successfully worked on many diverse and challenging issues specializing in government and community relations, issue management, coalition-building, and strategic communications. Deborah has earned a reputation for her ability to develop consensus among interest groups and individuals with differing agendas and interests.
Joan Drake
New Mexico Local Counsel
Interwest is represented before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission by Joan Drake of Modrall Sperling. Joan has assisted clients for twenty years as a lawyer on utility regulation and environmental permitting matters.
In utility matters, Joan represents clients on matters involving state and federal regulation of electric and gas utility rates and service, facility siting, wholesale and retail sales, utility acquisition, renewable energy development, PPAs and ESAs, QF issues, electric transmission and interconnection, gas pipelines, power purchase and service agreements, and energy efficiency. In addition to representing clients on individual matters before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (“PRC”), Joan monitors and updates her clients on regulatory and legislative developments of interest to energy, utility, and transmission companies doing business in New Mexico and throughout the West. Best Lawyers in America® has recognized Joan in Energy Regulatory Law since 2017. She presents frequently on environmental law and regulatory issues. Joan currently serves as Chair of the Utility Service Group and Co-Chair of the Renewable Energy Service Group.
Rikki-Lee Chavez
New Mexico Lobbyist
Rikki-Lee Chavez is the founder and owner of Capitol Counsel and Consulting, a premier government relations firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The practice focuses on a myriad of subject areas as well as providing education on ethics and compliance in political spaces.
Rikki-Lee is a life-long New Mexican who entered politics after working for the New Mexico Legislature during a gap year between obtaining degrees in Print Journalism and Spanish and attending the University of New Mexico School of Law. Rikki-Lee is a member of the New Mexico State Bar and is dedicated to advocating on behalf of her clients for the creation of best policies and practices in New Mexico.headshot new.jpg