HORTNEL JOHNSON

P&C Subject Matter Expert for NextEra’s renewables (NEER) and transmission (NEET) businesses, advising on utility-scale inverter-based resource (IBR) facilities, including PV, wind, and BESS (200 MW+), from 34.5 kV collector systems to 500 kV interconnections across CAISO, ERCOT, PJM, and SPP.

• Guide EOR firms and NextEra project engineering teams on P&C design for NEER and NEET projects, resolving design comments to align deliverables with NEER/NEET standards and RTO/ISO and transmission owner requirements.
• Contribute to the ongoing update of NextEra’s relay settings best practices, providing guidance on NERC PRC requirements, including PRC-025 relay loadability for GSU and main power transformer protection.
  Assess designs and relay settings against NERC PRC-023 through PRC-027 and IEEE 2800-2022, identifying compliance gaps before construction to reduce regulatory and misoperation risk.
  Validate protection design basis through review of ASPEN OneLiner short-circuit models and phasor-domain studies, including reactive power capability studies in PSS/E or ETAP.
  Evaluate EMT study reports (EMTP) for TRV and TOV, confirming protection performance and breaker and equipment ratings under transient conditions.
  Witnessed RTDS hardware-in-the-loop testing of high-voltage tie-line protection for a utility-scale BESS facility, evaluating relay response to simulated faults and inverter behavior.
  Guide IBR protection practices for GE FLEXINVERTER and Power Electronics inverter platforms.
  Review digital substation designs using SEL IEC 61850-9-2 Sampled Values process bus architecture, including merging units and protection network applications.
  Review SCADA and communications designs, including RTUs, SEL Axion, PLCs, and GPS/IRIG-B time synchronization, for reliable integration with protection systems.
  Review APP 601 DFR disturbance monitoring designs for PRC-028 compliance, supporting accurate post-event analysis.

• Direct engineering and system planning for medium-voltage power infrastructure, aligning capital programs with reliability, risk, and operational performance targets
• Lead reliability engineering and event-driven corrective action programs, translating fault/disturbance data into design and protection improvements
• Provide technical and stakeholder leadership across operations, maintenance, and vendors to prioritize projects, manage risk, and improve system resilience
• Guide modernization planning supporting renewable integration and grid-adaptive operating strategies (grid-parallel readiness and resilient operating modes)

• Led engineering, substation operations, and technical teams delivering MV electrical projects from concept through commissioning (design review, procurement, installation, testing, energization) across substations and distribution systems
• Designed and implemented redundant protection and control schemes and MV system upgrades, improving overall system reliability by ~54% and reducing unplanned downtime by ~40%
• Managed major modernization programs including MV switchgear, relays, protection & control devices, and substation upgrades; coordinated outages and commissioning to minimize operational disruption
• Performed root-cause analysis on 30+ major system events; implemented corrective actions and a lessons-learned process to reduce repeat failures and improve operational readiness
• Developed business cases and technical justifications for capital projects, incorporating risk evaluation, reliability impact, and cost/benefit tradeoffs
• Implemented acceptance testing and commissioning procedures aligned to ANSI/NETA practices; improved QA/QC rigor and documentation quality across field execution
• Supported integration of distributed renewable energy resources while maintaining power quality and system reliability through impact assessments and protection strategy updates
• Strengthened stakeholder relationships with internal leadership, operations, and external vendors/contractors through clear technical communication and execution governance

• Provided technical leadership for MV system design and reliability improvement initiatives across substations and distribution networks
• Standardized testing, commissioning documentation, and technical deliverables to improve consistency and auditability of field work packages
• Supported protection coordination, disturbance review, and corrective action implementation to improve system performance and reduce recurrence of events

• Developed protection settings and coordination for 2,000+ medium-voltage devices, improving selectivity and system reliability across a large utility network
• Investigated 500+ system disturbances using event report analysis and fault studies; drove corrective actions and methods later adopted across the organization