General Manager Larry Weis joined Austin Energy in September 2010. Weis has 30 years experience in the electric and water utility industries, and more specifically publicly-owned utilities.

Weis came to Austin Energy after spending 10 years as General Manager at California’s Turlock Irrigation District (TID). Weis was General Manager of the Pend Oreille Public Utility District (PUD) from 1990-2000 and began his career in 1981 at Snohomish PUD in northwest Washington State.

Larry serves or has served on the boards for a number of associations and national and regional joint action agencies within the utility industry, and on private corporation boards. He is considered an expert in strategic planning within the utility industry and has provided substantial innovation and growth to those he has led. Larry is an Industrial Technology graduate of Western Washington University.

Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Mele has been working at Austin Energy for more than 20 years. In her role as COO, Mele leads the business areas focused on safe, reliable and efficient electric generation and delivery, as well as resource and infrastructure planning needed to support future growth. The operations team includes power supply and market operations, electric service delivery, environmental care and protection, on-site energy services, reliability and market compliance, and contract and business development.

Mele has held numerous roles in the management
team including Manager of Decker Creek Power Station, Director of System Operations, Senior Vice President of Power Production, and Senior Vice President of Electric Service Delivery, where she oversaw the nation’s first ISO 9001 certification for that type of business unit in 2007. Prior to joining Austin Energy Mele worked with General Electric. She is a registered Professional Engineer with a degree in Mechanical Engineering
from Union College in Schenectady, New York. Mele
also attended the University of Idaho Utility
Executive Course.

Deputy General Manager Kerry Overton joined Austin Energy in the year 2000 and now oversees the utility’s customer care, workforce development and risk management, and information technology business units. Customer billing operations generate more than $1.3 billion in revenues for the City of Austin. Most recently, Overton’s customer care and IT business units upgraded the city’s utility billing system. Prior to his current role, Overton served as Vice President of Customer Care and was also a senior business process consultant. He previously served as Deputy Land Commissioner for the State of Texas in the General Land Office, where he oversaw energy resources.

Overton has a Bachelor of Arts in Managerial Studies and Political Science from Rice University, an MBA from the University of Texas Graduate School of Business and a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs. He also attended the University of Idaho Utility Executive Course.

Ann Little is Senior Vice President of Finance & Corporate Services, leading all financial oversight and support functions. Her responsibilities include accounting and reporting, budget and forecasting, debt management, financial regulatory support and rate analysis, distribution warehouse operations and reclamation, internal audit and financial compliance related to the energy hedging program and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) settlement process. Little leads the development of the utility’s long-range financial forecast, annual operating budget and five-year Capital Improvement Projects spending plan.

Little, who has been with Austin Energy for 12 years, served in her current position on an interim basis for six months. Previous to that she served as Vice President of Financial Services, responsible for finance and accounting operations related to asset management, rate filings, long-range planning, internal audit, supply chain, and fleet maintenance.

During her tenure with Austin Energy Little led the Resource Planning Team that developed the first Renewable Portfolio Standard addressed by the utility’s Ten-Year Energy Resource Plan in 2003, developed Austin Energy’s Long-range planning section, un-bundled the utility debt, led the implementation of
Asset Management software and co-led a rate increase filing that was approved by the Austin City Council
June 7, 2012.

Little has prior experience in electric utility financial management, forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, utility billing, rates, bond issues, electric
utility software management, gas and electric consulting and corporate management in private industries. She is a Certified Public Accountant,
received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting, magna cum laude, from Abilene Christian University and attended the University of Idaho Utility Executive Course.

Andy Perny is Division Chief for Legal Services, overseeing the utility’s legal staff and providing legal advice and services to the utility. The Legal Services Division provides support in a number of areas, including regulatory and legislative matters, contract negotiations, records management, real estate and right-of-way matters, fuel and power purchase contracts, and claims.

Perny was appointed Division Chief in 2005 after working six years at the utility as a senior attorney.  He joined Austin Energy in 1999 after five years in private practice. Perny was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1994 and was then admitted to practice law before the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas in 1995. He received a juris doctorate, magna cum laude, from Indiana University at Bloomington.

Deborah Kimberly joined Austin Energy in January 2013 as the Vice President of Distributed Energy Services. Her division is responsible for the utility’s energy efficiency and demand response programs, Green Building, advanced transportation, market analytics and Key Accounts which serves Austin Energy’s largest customers.

Kimberly has worked in the utility industry for more than 30 years, and spent more than 22 years at the Salt River Project in Central Arizona. Most recently, she was SRP’s Director of Customer Programs and Marketing, where she was responsible for energy efficiency product design and implementation; marketing of all products, price plans and services; measurement & evaluation; and market research. Previous positions included managing SRP Financial Services and involvement in public policy and strategic planning initiatives.

Kimberly earned her B.A. degree in International Relations from Stanford University and her Master's in International Management from Thunderbird.

Kimberly serves on the Program Advisory Committee of the Consortium for Energy Efficiency and is an Executive Sponsor of the Austin Energy Pecan Street Working Group and the Texas Fuel Independence Project. While in Arizona, she served on the Board of Directors of the Maricopa Health Foundation and the Desert Foothills Habitat for Humanity Chapter.

Vice President of Electric Service Delivery David Wood is responsible for all aspects of planning, engineering, design, construction, operations, and maintenance for the transmission, distribution, metering, street light and substation assets of Austin Energy. Electric Service Delivery is the largest business unit at Austin Energy and was the first of its kind in the nation to be ISO 9001 certified.

Prior to his current role, Wood was Director of System Operations and Reliability, Director of Transmission and Substation Construction and Maintenance, and Director of Transmission and Distribution. He began his career at Austin Energy in 1992 as a substation and major equipment engineer. He worked at TU Electric, now ONCOR, before he joined Austin Energy. Wood, a registered Professional Engineer, received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University and also attended of the University of Idaho Utility Executive Course.

Mark Dreyfus is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs & Corporate Communications, responsible for managing Market Policy and Planning, Local Government Issues, Governmental Relations, Public Information, and Marketing Communications.

Mark joined Austin Energy in 1999 as Director of Market Policy and Planning. Mark managed Austin Energy’s preparation and planning for the conversion of systems and processes for participation in the competitive wholesale market (Wholesale Deregulation), which opened in summer of 2001.

In 2008 Mark was promoted to Director of Regulatory & Government Affairs and beginning in 2010 successfully led a two-year process to design and implement the Utility’s first electric base rate increase and rate restructuring in 18 years. Mark manages Austin Energy’s interests before the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature and has represented Texas public power on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Board of Directors since 2010.

Previous to Austin Energy Mark worked at the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas as an Advisor to then Commissioner Judy Walsh and before that as Chief Economist in the PUC’s Office of Policy Development. From 1984-89 Mark worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Toxic Substances as an Economist and then Section Chief /Supervisory Economist.

Mark earned a B.A in Economics from the University of Texas, a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) from Harvard University and a PH.D in Economics from Duke University.

As Vice President of Customer Care, Jawana “JJ” Gutierrez is responsible for the City of Austin’s utility billing operations (which includes billing services for other city departments such as water, solid waste, and public works), the utility contact center, field meter services, and the city’s 3-1-1 information center.

Gutierrez was previously the Customer Care Quality Manager, a role in which she directed process improvements and quality initiatives. She helped spearhead efforts to qualify the contact center as the nation’s first call center within a utility to achieve ISO 9001 certification. She has worked in the utility business for 20 years, spanning many areas including transmission and distribution, business planning, and information technology.

A certified Project Management Professional, Gutierrez earned her Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Science in Engineering Operations Research/Industrial Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Chief Information Officer Alan Claypool joined Austin Energy in 2010 and oversees all operations within the newly reorganized Information Technology (IT) Division.

Prior to his current role, Claypool guided an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) needs assessment and contract development at the City of Tampa, Florida, where he also led the evolution of IT governance and implementation of IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). While serving at U.S. Central Command, Claypool directed operations for critical global networks and was the project manager for the design, purchase and installation of a $20 million enterprise architecture strategy. Previously, as commander of the largest communications squadron in the US Air Force, he provided support for the launching of satellites into polar orbit, flight test range activities, missile test launches, and the national missile defense system.

Claypool earned his Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a Masters degree in Management from Bellevue University in Nebraska.