Dennis Bence

About Dennis Bence

Dennis R. Bence serves as Director, Executive Projects - Resiliency, at Arizona Public Service - Palo Verde Generating Station. This role includes leading cross functional internal and external teams to assess the robustness of existing plant design, configuration and operating margins given the potential impacts of more frequent and severe climate and world events. As important will be parallel efforts to invest in people at Palo Verde paired with taking care of the plant. In his previous role as Director of Nuclear Oversight he was responsible for oversight of Organizational Effectiveness, Performance Improvement, the Corrective Action Program, Site and Industry Communications, and the Quality Assurance program, including audits of operational, design and support activities at Palo Verde and its vendor partners. Prior roles included Director, Nuclear Assurance and an organizational effectiveness team leader with the Institute of NuclearPower Operations (INPO), where his responsibilities included industry evaluation and engagement in maintenance, work management, and organizational effectiveness. Before his assignment with INPO, Dennis served as an assistant plant manager at Palo Verde, charged with ensuring equipment reliability and refueling outage preparation. Since joining APS in 2002, Dennis has filled roles of increasing responsibility in operations including shift manager and unit operations manager. Dennis earned a senior reactor operator license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology from Excelsior College. Dennis proudly serves as a member of the board of trustees and executive committee for the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.

Experience

1. Director, Executive Projects-climate Resiliency

   Arizona Public Service - APS

   Mar 2024 — Present · US

   As Director of Executive Projects I lead our efforts to assess the robustness of existing plant design, configuration and operating margins given the potential impacts of more frequent and severe climate events. Core business includes building cross functional collaboration and engaging a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to invest in people and take care of the plant.

Education

• Excelsior University

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Nuclear Engineering Technology

  2020

Skills

• Project Planning
• Customer Service
• Senior Reactor Operator License
• Management
• Project Management
• Strategic Planning
• Operations Department Management
• Training
• Operations Management
• Microsoft Office
• Refueling Outage Management
• Leadership
• Engineering