Imperial, California - Imperial Irrigation District announces the hiring of former CalEnergy President and General Manager Graeme Donaldson as the district’s Salton Sea program manager.

An electrical engineer with extensive experience in renewable energy development and project management, Donaldson will direct IID and Imperial County’s Salton Sea Restoration and Renewable Energy Initiative. In his new role, Donaldson will advance initiative at the Salton Sea, including the utilization of IID-owned lands for renewable energy projects that will maximize the district’s assets and serve as ground cover for the exposed lakebed.

“Graeme’s arrival corresponds with not only the expansion of California’s renewable portfolio standard for all electric utilities from 33 to 50 percent but with the governor’s just-released Salton Sea action plan that includes a renewable energy component as part of a larger framework for near-term restoration efforts,” said Kevin Kelley, IID general manager. “He will collaborate with Imperial County to integrate the work product of both agencies at the Salton Sea and develop an IID-land-use plan that will deliver sustained environmental and economic value to the region.”

His experience includes stints at ColGreen Energy, as founder of an energy advisory company, vice president at Colmac Energy, Inc., in Mecca, Calif., where the facility was named the biomass renewable energy facility of the year in 2010 by Power magazine, and utility leadership and project management roles in the United Kingdom.

Donaldson graduated from Liverpool University with a bachelor’s degree in 1977, and earned credentials at Almeda and Glasgow universities, including master’s degrees in applied science and technology and business administration.

A contract employee, he will be based in the district’s La Quinta office.