Growth and New Leadership for Westwood’s Substation Service Group

Westwood is no stranger to explosive growth. Over the past three years, the firm has added more than 350 employees, grown from 16 offices to 23, and added 7 in-house services, bringing the total to 15. The most recent service group making waves is its substation engineering team due to its expanded leadership, team, and awarded projects.   

Westwood’s Substation service group is now led by Pete Baxter, PE. from Westwood’s Raleigh, North Carolina office. Pete serves as the firm’s Substation Manager. With over 30 years of experience designing substations from 2.4 kV to 500 kV, he is well positioned to oversee the group as they experience remarkable growth. Pete has worked for small and large consulting firms, public power utilities, and an EPC substation group. In his role, Pete will support the execution of new projects and the continued formation of the team.  

"It is really special to be a part of something that has grown as impressively as the substation group," says Pete Baxter, PE. "The future of the group looks bright with new technologies, projects, and team members."  

Baxter joined Westwood in May 2020 as one of the original members of the Substation service group. Since then, the team has experienced a tremendous expansion and expects to continue this growth by adding 50 additional people by the end of the year. Going forward, the service group is focused on expanding the innovative technologies and programs used to execute small- and large-scale projects for utilities, developers, and EPC contractors. Whether it is an opportunity to build or upgrade substation solutions, the group is on a path of strong expansion that will support a variety of utility and renewable clients.   

“I’m proud of the smart, intentional actions made by this group,” says Dan Beckmann, PE, Senior Vice President, Power Division. “They play an integral part in our strategic growth and, as a company, we look forward to the new and innovative capabilities we will see from this team.”  

Congratulations to Pete and his continued success at Westwood as well as the inspiring future of the Substation team.