Vikki Gates has assisted some of the largest Regional Transmission Organizations and Investor Owned Utilities in North America prepare for competition by providing project management, facilitation, market rule development, system development, and implementation expertise. As a Principal with The Structure Group, Vikki monitors the development and implementation of competitive wholesale and retail electric markets across the Midwest, Southeast and Texas and oversees large system implementation and business process project teams in those regions. She has extensive experience with the development of the Texas market for both the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC) regions by serving as market trials coordinator for the ERCOT Region and facilitating market participant protocol development for Entergy Texas. Vikki has served as the Independent Coordinator of the Texas Nodal market development for ERCOT. As the Independent Coordinator, her responsibilities included facilitating steering committee meetings on nodal market design with the ERCOT stakeholders, reporting status to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), and coordinating stakeholder education. Prior to joining The Structure Group, Vikki was employed by Ernst & Young in the management consulting practice and assisted clients in the design and development of processes and systems to support competitive markets in California and Ontario.