Thomas A. McClimans, P. E. is a director of Cascadia Energy Technology in Corvallis, Oregon. He has been enjoying a more than 45-year career in power generation (O&M), power plant construction, and computer control systems. Early in his career, McClimans implemented a groundbreaking direct digital control (DDC) system at an 800-MW coal-fired, super-critical generating unit at the Conesville Power Plant. He later became the youngest plant manager at Conesville, which was a 2000-MW generating station with over 600 employees and an annual budget in excess of US$150 million.
Since then, he has held senior level management and engineering positions in both domestic and international markets, working for such firms as American Electric Power (AEP), Black & Veatch International (BVI), NRG and TECO Power Services. Project responsibilities include EPC management, IT project management, O&M management, and generation portfolio management.
His assignments include some of the most challenging electric generating projects in the world. For example, as director of engineering computer applications for the AEP, he directed developing and implementing the computer control system for the AEP transmission grid and also implemented enterprise asset management systems for the AEP's fossil and nuclear generating plants.
Working as general manager for the BVI, he directed a generation optimization project for the 5000-MW Saudi Consolidated Electricity Co. in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Also working for the BVI, McClimans successfully directed redesigning and optimizing a waste-to-energy power plant in the United Kingdom and then managed several EPC projects in Thailand. Working as task manager for BVI-USAID, McClimans managed a project to help restore generation in Afghanistan. Working as general manager for NRG and TECO Power Services, he managed a multistate merchant power plant portfolio based on coal-fired boilers and gas-fired CCTs.
McClimans earned a BSc in electrical engineering from Ohio University. He is a registered professional engineer in Ohio and a life member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).