All-women crew leads OPG’s Energy Markets team
This spring, on the heels of OPG’s first-ever all-women leadership team at Pickering Nuclear, another all-women crew led the company’s Portfolio Management Centre (PMC) for a shift.
On April 12, Real-Time Markets Coordinators, Marina Fiorente and Melisa Licenji, and Real-Time Markets Specialist, Michelle Medina-Dougall, proudly led the centre’s Energy Markets team, which trades electricity in the province and surrounding markets and optimizes OPG’s portfolio of assets.
It was the first time in 10 years since the last all-women team worked together to lead the PMC.
“Seeing Michelle and other women in the control room made me feel like this was a job I could do,” said Fiorente, who joined OPG as an intern in Reactor Safety Engineering at Darlington Nuclear Generating Station (GS) in 2016 and began her current role last year.
The noteworthy shift reflects a changing tide in OPG’s male-dominated roles and progress within the company to address systemic barriers to become more equitable and inclusive.
Earlier this year, on a March 17 night shift, Pickering Nuclear GS was led by its first all-women crew, with four female managers guiding the safe and reliable operation of the entire station.
“Seeing my female colleagues manage their job, have a family and be supported by men working in the control room has made me believe that this job is possible for me. Seeing that it’s achievable is extremely motivating.”Marina Fiorente, Real-Time Markets Coordinator
Located at OPG’s corporate headquarters in Toronto, the PMC is active 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is home to a talented team that works with the Independent Electricity System Operator to help ensure a reliable supply of electricity by optimizing OPG’s diverse portfolio of generating assets.
Energy trading, both inside and outside OPG, has historically been a male-dominated field, and rotating, round-the-clock shift schedules create additional barriers for those managing family and care-taking responsibilities.
When it comes down to it, representation matters, Fiorente said.
“Seeing my female colleagues manage their job, have a family and be supported by men working in the control room has made me believe that this job is possible for me,” she said. “Seeing that it’s achievable is extremely motivating.”
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