Subject Matter Expert Biographies

Daniel “Dan” Beans, CEO/Director
Roseville Electric Utility

Dan Beans began his career in public power more than 20 years ago, after spending more than 12 years in the private sector, where he performed electrical engineering for numerous organizations through a consulting engineering firm, including NASA. Today, as the CEO of the Roseville Electric Utility, he oversees a $200 million budget and nearly 200 employees responsible for generation and distribution of electricity to 71,000 residential and business customers over a 44-square-mile area.

A licensed Professional Electrical Engineer, Dan is an energy policy expert serving in several key industry roles at local, state, and federal levels, including:

Vice Chair of the American Public Power Association;
Represents public power on the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, which is the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power industry;
Roles as VP, President, and (currently for 2025) Past-President of the CMUA Board;
Represents utilities on the Board of the North State Building Industry Association
Commissioner of the Balancing Authority of Northern California
Commissioner of the Transmission Agency of Northern California

Prior to coming to Roseville, Dan worked for the City of Redding in various capacities, eventually becoming Electric Utility Director, where he garnered firsthand knowledge on the importance and realities of wildfire mitigation and disaster recovery.

Fun Fact: Dan describes his favorite hobby simply as “Disneyland,” but also enjoys making pottery, hunting, backpacking, growing Christmas trees in Trinity County and spending time with his family.

Clifford Chan, General Manager
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)

As General Manager of the East Bay Municipal Utility District, Clifford oversees the delivery of high-quality drinking water to more than 1.4 million residents and businesses in 20 cities and 15 unincorporated communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, as well as wastewater treatment for 740,000 customers.

His job often requires balancing the continued demands of maintaining critical infrastructure and financial sustainability through innovation and long-term water and wastewater planning. With a background in engineering and nearly three decades of water experience, he leads an organization dedicated to delivering the highest quality water at a fair price while remaining a responsible environmental steward.

EBMUD programs he oversees include a first-of-its-kind financial arrangement that prevents service termination, one of the most aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals in the industry, and innovative programs to help employees develop in their careers.

Outside of EBMUD, he serves on the CMUA Board and has leadership roles with the California Urban Water Agencies, the Water Research Foundation, the American Water Works Association, WateReuse California, and the Bay Area Council.

Fun Fact: Clifford loves to build furniture – rocking chairs, dining tables, nightstands, sideboards, vanities – whatever mood strikes. He also enjoys tennis, hiking, reading, and spending time with family.

Paul Cook, General Manager
Irvine Ranch Water District

Paul A. Cook has been with the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) since 2004, starting as Assistant General Manager and taking the helm as General Manager in 2011. In his role, he oversees and directs a public utility that provides retail water and sewer service to more than 600,000 customers in central Orange County.

Cook is very proud of how IRWD has advanced its water supply resiliency over the years. Through the District’s water treatment facilities, emergency storage programs, safety and financial initiatives, IRWD is well positioned to continue providing water – safely, economically, and reliably – to its customers. IRWD, also well-known for its sustainability ethic, continues to lead the water community with water use efficiency, urban watershed protection, and recycling many resources that until a few years ago had been considered “wastes.”

He currently serves on the board of WateReuse California and as Vice President of the CMUA Board, which gives him a direct line of sight into the issues and innovations of publicly-owned water and power utilities up and down the state. One of his key goals with the organization is to help bridge the gap in communication between water and power utilities, especially because they are so dependent on each other. As a case in point, “energy” costs are his water district’s third-largest budget item.

By training, Cook is a registered civil engineer with more than 30 years of experience in water and sewage systems in the public and private sectors, which gives him a unique perspective on utility operations and management. Before joining IRWD, he served on the board of the Orange County Water District, and was Manager of Engineering for Central Basin Municipal Water District and West Basin Municipal Water District in Los Angeles County, where he was responsible for a capital-improvements program that included one of the largest water recycling projects in the nation.

Fun Fact: While he claims not to have a hobby, Paul is a dedicated swimmer, saying it’s the “the last exercise I can do after years of marathons.” He also serves on the board of Chapman University.

Shivaji Deshmukh, General Manager
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Shivaji Deshmukh, a professional engineer, is the General Manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (“Metropolitan”). Possessing more than 25 years of experience in water and wastewater management and a passion for environmental protection, Shivaji holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering from UCLA, specializing in reverse osmosis membranes during his academic journey.

Prior to joining Metropolitan in November 2025, Shivaji was the General Manager of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, where he provided crucial support to the directly-elected five member Board of Directors and represented/managed more than 350 staff. His role at Metropolitan involves implementing the climate adaptation strategy set by the board earlier this year, as well as address workforce and aging infrastructure issues, upholding the district’s values, and guiding the organization towards its mission and goals. Metropolitan serves 26 public water agencies — cities, municipal water districts, and one county water authority — that then deliver supplies directly or indirectly to nearly 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties.

Shivaji is passionate about developing a pipeline of future dedicated water and wastewater professionals and continues to support the development of new pathways for a wide variety of careers to engage with groups otherwise not familiar with the industry. He finds his most memorable experiences to be new hire orientations where he gets to meet new staff members. Witnessing the arrival of incoming professionals and the enthusiasm of the new workforce that is dedicated to public health, environmental protection, and resilient water supplies inspires him and reinforces his dedication to the organization’s vision.

Shivaji’s passion for his work is fueled by the inspiration he draws from his colleagues and their shared commitment to serving the public through environmental protection and resource reliability. Throughout his career, Shivaji has been focused on developing new local supplies, specifically recycled water. One of Shivaji’s most notable career accomplishments was his involvement in the development and operation of approximately 130,000 acre-feet per year of recycled water in Southern California with the Orange County Water District.

Fun Fact: Shivaji is a music buff who, “if needed to label his favorite,” would be indie rock and hip-hop. Shivaji is also an avid traveler who enjoys exploring new places he’s never seen.

Nick Dominguez, General Manager
Lassen Municipal Utility District

Nick Dominguez has served as the GM of the Lassen Municipal Utility District (LMUD) since 2024, after serving as its IT Manager since 2013. LMUD itself is a case study in local control and the diversity of publicly-owned utilities – it was formed in 1986 by residents who were tired of paying high rates for poor service from an investor owned utility, and now serves 10,500 customers, over a 1,900 square mile service area.

As LMUD’s IT Manager, he oversaw the creation and implementation of the agency’s automated metering system, SCADA system, as well as accounting and billing systems, which helped him gain significant insight into all of LMUD’s operations. In 2024 Nick served as the Director of Power Supply Resources for Central Coast Community Energy; a Community Choice Aggregator that serves over 450,000 customers on California’s central coast. This experience helped Nick gain valuable insights into renewable resource integration into the grid as well as how the California energy markets function. It was that experience and expertise that led the LMUD Board to ask Nick to take the helm as GM.

Under his leadership, LMUD has implemented a plan for a four-year, $40 million capital improvement plan – a historic project for the agency. He is also overseeing construction of the Skedaddle Substation, the most substantial project in the district’s history. When complete in 2026, it will enable LMUD to interconnect with NV Energy, creating a second source of power, significantly improving reliability and opening up opportunities for a more diverse power supply.

Fun Fact: Over the past year, Nick and his family built an experimental kit aircraft, which has been FAA certified and which he now uses (as a licensed pilot) to ferry his family to Disneyland as often as time and weather allow.

Miguel Guerrero, General Manager
San Bernardino Municipal Water Department

Miguel Guerrero joined the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department in 2011 as a principal engineer, overseeing design and construction of water and wastewater infrastructure. He was promoted to Director of Water Utility in 2015, where he managed the operation, maintenance, water quality, and construction of facilities associated with the Department’s water distribution system, geothermal system, and water production/treatment facilities.

He was appointed as GM of the department in 2018, and today oversees all aspects of the department, which provides drinking water and wastewater treatment services for more than 220,000 people in the San Bernardino community. Under his leadership, the department has made significant strides in resiliency by seismically retrofitting 14 concrete and steel reservoirs (approximately 65 million gallons of storage capacity), executing a digester gas beneficial use program at its reclamation plant, and commencing its recycled water program.

Miguel also serves a director (current vice president) on the Clean Water SoCal Board representing San Bernardino County. He also serves as president on the Colton/San Bernardino Regional Tertiary Treatment and Water Reclamation Authority and board member on the Upper Santa Ana River Watershed Infrastructure Financing Authority.

Miguel holds a Professional Engineering License (Civil) in the State of California, as well as State Water Board Distribution Operator (D2) and Treatment Operator (T2) certificates.

Fun Fact: Miguel prioritizes his family. He and his wife both come from large families – all of whom live nearby – and he loves to spend time with his wife and three young kids, and gives back by coaching youth sports in his community.

Jason Martin, General Manager
Rancho Water

Jason Martin has been with Rancho Water since 2006, where he’s held roles overseeing key departments including IT, customer service, administration, water use efficiency and Assistant General Manager. He was appointed to the position of General Manager in 2024 and brings a unique perspective to the role, as his degree is in information technology.

While director of IT, he worked with the FBI, homeland security and state and federal agencies to protect against cyber threats and hacker attacks, and has been working to formalize a regional cybersecurity threat program to share resources and best practices across various agencies.

Jason played a central role as Rancho Water pioneered the original Sustainable Water for Agricultural Production (CropSWAP) program, which offers financial incentives to agricultural water users to transition from high-water-use crops to varieties with lower water requirements. Upon completion, the program saved more than 800 acre-feet of water per year, helping struggling farmers stay in business and growing to a regional CropSWAP program that has garnered state-wide and national recognition from Congressional leadership, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the California Department of Water Resources.

Jason was also instrumental in the development of Rancho Water’s “MyWaterTracker” program, which tracks water use in real-time (showcased at the White House), and is currently overseeing an “almost patent pending” groundwater management tool that will provide real-time monitoring of well levels, allowing for improved groundwater management.

Fun Fact: Jason is a lifelong drum musician/percussionist – who started playing at the age of 9 and to this day loves playing Metallica to relieve stress. He’s also a big English Football (aka soccer) fan, and the proud father of six kids – all finally “off the payroll.”

Joe Mouawad, General Manager
Eastern Municipal Water District

Joe Mouawad’s career in the water industry spans more than 30 years. He joined Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) in 2006 as its director of engineering and worked his way up the ranks until he was appointed as EMWD’s general manager in 2021. In that role he has bolstered EMWD’s position as one of California’s premiere water agencies – garnering national recognition for its water recycling programs, reducing water use per capita by more than 40 percent even as the population has grown, and securing hundreds of millions of dollars in support of infrastructure investments, climate change adaptation, diversifying the agency’s water supply portfolio, and others.

Collectively, he oversees an agency that, under his leadership:

Operates an industry-leading water desalinization program that generates 14 million gallons of water daily – enough to supply 30,000 homes each year.
Has implemented a five-year $938 million Capital Improvement Program, partly funded by state and federal grants, to expand water, wastewater and recycled water systems.
Has been nationally recognized by the WateReuse Association as a national leader in water re-use for EMWD’s commitment to 100 percent beneficial reuse and industry-leading Accelerated Retrofit Program. Joe himself also sits on the National WateReuse Association Board.
Utilizes a $650 million annual budget, employs more than 600 people, and serves a population of approximately 966,000.

Fun Fact: When he’s not setting and implementing EMWD’s strategic vision, Joe likes to go on vacation and travel in the U.S. and abroad for hiking, skiing, and other adventures with his family.

Rachel Murphy, General Manager
Contra Costa Water District

With more than 28 years of experience, Rachel Murphy was appointed the General Manager of the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) in September 2022, becoming the first woman to lead CCWD in the General Manager role. Her experience spans the management of significant operating and project budgets -- success leading transformational organizational changes and operational initiatives, as well as management of safety, budget, performance standards, incident response, and daily operations.

Rachel began her career at CCWD in 2008 as the Engineering Manager and was promoted to Director of Engineering in 2010. In 2019, she became Assistant General Manager overseeing the Engineering and Operations & Maintenance departments, leading approximately two-thirds of the employees at CCWD. In this capacity, Rachel led the operations and maintenance of water systems, serving more than 520,000 customers generating over $145 million annually while managing over 200 professional and technical staff. Rachel has been a leader in organizational development for CCWD, is a champion for CCWD’s safety program, and a strong advocate for CCWD’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion program since its inception in 2020.

Rachel is an active member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and the California African American Water Education Foundation. Rachel earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University and Master of Science in Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to CCWD, she worked for the City of Walnut Creek for 11 years, starting as an intern and working her way up to Engineering Services Manager.

Fun Fact: Rachel currently serves as the Scholarship Committee Secretary for Police and Fire – The Fallen Heroes, an organization that provides support and scholarships to children who have lost parents in the line duty. Rachel emphasizes the importance of staying grounded and she focuses on health and wellness practices so she can continue working effectively both at work and volunteering.

Janisse Quiñones, CEO and Chief Engineer
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Janisse Quiñones is the first executive in LADWP’s history to hold the title of CEO and Chief Engineer, preserving the title of William Mulholland but changing from the institutional title of “General Manager.” It was an operational change because as head of the nation’s largest publicly-owned water and power utility, she oversees an organization greater in size (12,000 employees serving 4 million residents) than most private companies, including investor-owned utilities.

Janisse brings more than 25 years of leadership experience as a senior executive in the utility and engineering industries, having served as Senior Vice President of Electric Operations with Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), Senior Vice President of Gas engineer with PG&E, and Vice President of Gas Systems Engineering for National Grid, where she managed the engineering and design of natural gas distribution, transmission and infrastructure projects for National Grid’s U.S. territory. She also has held prior key leadership roles at Cobra Energy, where she was responsible for restoration and reconstruction in Puerto Rico—where she was born and raised—following Hurricane Maria, and several leadership roles at San Diego Gas & Electric.

In addition to her utility career, Janisse served in the United States Coast Guard, both full-time and in the reserves, from 2004-2025. She is a retired USCG Commander and previously served as Deputy, Planning and Incident Management.

She holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Advanced Studies in International Relations and is a licensed Professional Engineer in five states.

Fun Fact: Janisse does “a lot of yoga” to keep herself centered, clear and balanced, and enjoys spending lots of time with her husband, five children, and their “14-year-old puppy.

Jim Shetler, General Manager and CEO
Balancing Authority of Northern CaliforniaJim Shetler has served as the General Manager of the Balancing Authority of Northern California (BANC) since his appointment in December 2013. He oversees the operations of BANC and is active in BANC’s engagement with market development in the west. Prior to his tenure with BANC, Jim served as a part-time executive advisor to SMUD on hydro-relicensing issues and Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) matters. Before that, he served SMUD for more than 26 years before retiring in December 2011.

During his time with SMUD, Jim was appointed Assistant General Manager of Energy Supply in December 2000, where he was responsible for overseeing the purchase and sales of SMUD’s gas and electric commodities, the reliability of the transmission system, SMUD’s electric generating facilities, and SMUD’s R&D effort, including the Renewables Portfolio Standard. Departments under his direction included Energy Trading and Contracts, System Operations and Reliability, Power Generation, and Energy R&D.

Jim also served as Assistant General Manager of Customer Service and was responsible for overseeing energy delivery and customer services as SMUD prepared to enter the new competitive electricity market in the late 1990s. He also served as Deputy Assistant General Manager of Operations, where he was responsible for overseeing the closure and decommissioning of the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station and providing support to the Assistant General Manager of Operations on other SMUD activities.

Before joining SMUD, Jim worked with Babcock and Wilcox – Nuclear Division, holding various positions. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University.

Fun Fact: Jim enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, and diving into a good book.

Diana Tang, Assistant General Manager
Long Beach Utilities

Diana’s career began with the Long Beach Fire Department, soon after 9/11, as a ocean lifeguard. With more than 20 years of local government experience in emergency response, public policy development, and communications, Diana Tang joined Long Beach Utilities in 2022. She currently serves as Assistant General Manager, leading a 500 FTE workforce, and overseeing water, gas and sewer field operations, Human Resources, natural gas procurement, call center and billing, and the government and public affairs functions of the department. Prior to joining Long Beach Utilities, Diana served as Chief of Staff to former Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia from 2019 to 2022.

Diana is currently chair of the Los Angeles County Safe, Clean Water Regional Oversight Committee, where she provides leadership and oversight to the County’s expenditure of $285 million in annual funding to improve water quality, water supply, and community-benefit initiatives countywide. She also serves as Chair of the LA28 Games Water Council, Venue Infrastructure Committee, which is assessing infrastructure needs of venues with the objective of ensuring water infrastructure for set-up and operation is in place to support the LA 28 Olympic Games. Diana is also a member of the Gateway Water Management Authority and has previously served as the League of California Cities representative on the Los Angeles County Local Emergency Medical Services Agency Commission.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Sport Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Masters in Public Policy and Administration from California State University, Long Beach.

Fun Fact: Diana enjoys the outdoors both for pleasure and conservancy efforts. As a former ocean lifeguard, Diana is competitive and feels “connected to the water — having experienced firsthand the value of environmental stewardship,” and attributes her past experiences swimming, biking, and running across California’s unique landscape to drive her work and passion around utilities resource management, customer service, and environmental stewardship.

Danielle Blacet, Executive Director
California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA)

Danielle was selected as CMUA’s new executive director in January 2025. In this role, she oversees a large policy and strategic agenda, operating at the nexus of water and power in California. Specifically, she helps advocate for and represents publicly-owned utilities that serve affordable water and wastewater services to 75% of California’s residents, provide affordable electric service to 25% of the state’s population, and collectively employ more than 32,000 workers.

Prior to her current role, Daniele served as CMUA’s Deputy Executive Director from 2020-2025, and as the association’s Director of Water in 2014-2020. In that role, she led a successful effort to get CMUA members $2 billion in funding for overdue water and energy bills as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her career working with statewide association in California dates back more than 25 years, and includes positions with the Association of California Water Agencies, and the Western Growers Association, where she helped establish and managed a multi-state charitable foundation program providing grants, materials, and other resources for water-efficient gardens in K-12 educational institutions.

Fun Fact: Danielle is a “die-hard Swiftie” (Taylor Swift fan) who also enjoys cooking and the outdoors, but says her true hobby (and money pit) is refurbishing a 75-year-old house she owns in Casoli, Italy, a small town in the Abruzzo region. A cancer survivor herself, Danielle founded the HerGen Cancer Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing support for cancer patients and their families, with a focus on patients whose cancer is caused by a hereditary or genetic condition.

Andrea Abergel, Director of Water
California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA)

Andrea joined CMUA in September 2020. As Director of Water, she manages and directs CMUA’s water policy portfolio, including, representing CMUA's water member agencies on issues before the California Legislature, directing CMUA’s advocacy in front of various California water-focused agencies, and coordinating CMUA’s water priorities. Before joining CMUA, Andrea worked for Sacramento-based law firms focused on environmental issues, including land use, water quality, local and state permitting, stormwater management, and ecosystem improvement. In her role as an attorney, Andrea represented clients in navigating complex California permitting schemes, complying with water quality regulations, responding, and addressing violations of California regulations, drafting real property contracts, conducting title review, and negotiating easement terms and disputes. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law, and a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Psychology from the University of California, Davis.

Derek Dolfie, Director of Energy
California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA)

Derek joined CMUA in January 2024 and serves as the Director of Energy. In his role, he leads CMUA's energy program, develops legislative and policy positions in coordination with members, testifies in front of committees. and meets with lawmakers and their staff, among many advocacy duties. He has years of experience in the legislative advocacy space, primarily focused on environmental policy issues, including energy policy.

Derek served as a senior public policy manager for electric vehicle infrastructure company ChargePoint Inc., where he oversaw the creation and implementation of the company's legislative and regulatory strategy in California and the western states. Prior to that position, Derek worked for the League of California Cities (Cal Cities) for six years, first as a legislative policy analyst and later as a legislative representative for environmental quality. Derek holds a master's degree in public policy from the University of California, Irvine, and a bachelor's degree in political science from San Diego State University.

Fun Fact: Derek and his wife really enjoy “Pub Trivia,” and participate in trivia night at local watering holes several times a month. He also considers red wine a true guilty pleasure, and in the little free time he has, he enjoys hiking, snowboarding, and simply enjoying the outdoors with his wife and their dog Kona, a chocolate labrador.