Public Interest Groups Welcome Inaugural ROWE Board

PORTLAND, OR – The Pathways Launch Committee approved the inaugural five-member Board of Directors for the Regional Organization of Western Energy, known as ROWE. NRDC, Western Resource Advocates and Renewable Northwest strongly support the slate, which brings decades of experience in state regulation, public power, electricity markets and Western energy governance. 

“ROWE’s first board has the credibility, independence and technical depth needed to earn trust across the West,” said Kelsie Gormanie, a Sustainable FERC Project advocate at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “Its members are well positioned to help build transparent electricity market governance that keeps affordability, reliability and clean energy progress at the center for Western communities.” 

The approved directors are John Di Stasio, Evelyn Kahl, Paul Kjellander, Deborah Smith and Rebecca Wagner. Together, they reflect a broad mix of geographic perspectives and technical expertise needed to guide ROWE as it establishes independent corporate governance, negotiates foundational agreements and advances filings before federal regulators. 

ROWE’s mission is to provide independent, transparent governance over voluntary wholesale electricity markets and services across the Western United States. Public interest organizations said strong governance will be essential to ensuring that expanded regional electricity markets deliver broad benefits, including affordability, reliability, clean energy access and meaningful stakeholder oversight. 

“The formation of ROWE and the election of its first independent board are critical steps toward greater grid regionalization and a marketplace that allows Western utilities to transact lower-cost energy reliably,” said Vijay Satyal of Western Resource Advocates. “WRA commends the Pathways Initiative and looks forward to a market structure that sustains reliability and expands access to clean energy resources across the Western Interconnection.” 

“This election is a key milestone in the development of Western electricity markets,” said Kavya Niranjan of Renewable Northwest. “Independent governance is critical to ensuring the markets deliver real benefits: greater access to clean energy, more efficient use of the West’s diverse resources and a more resilient grid.” 

Note: NRDC represented the Public Interest Organization Sector on the ROWE Board Nominating Committee. 

Established in 1970, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) works to safeguard the earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. Our team of more than 800 lawyers, policy experts, scientists, economists, and communications specialists work across the United States and around the world, from offices in Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Santa Monica, as well as a representative office in Beijing and affiliate offices in New Delhi (through NRDC’s wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, NRDC India Private Limited) and London (through its UK-based partner NRDC International). 

Western Resource Advocates works to protect the West’s land, air and water by advancing policies that address climate change, safeguard rivers and conserve public lands across the region. 

Renewable Northwest is a regional nonprofit advocacy organization working to expand clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy across the Northwest and the broader Western electricity system.