Experts & Staff

Letha Tawney is a Senior Associate in the World Resources Institute’s Markets and Enterprise Program. She leads the Utilities of the Future project, which collaborates with utilities, regulators, technology suppliers and customers to build innovative utility business models that support and incentivize a transition from the fossil energy dominated electricity systems of today to a more responsive, resilient and cleaner renewable energy dominated power grid of tomorrow. This shift in the electric sector, built on utility / customer collaborations and enabled by sound policy, can lead to thriving utilities and a significant increase in renewable energy on the grid while helping to reduce costs to electricity users.

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Previously, Letha has worked on renewable energy technology policy, including subsidy reform and best practices to accelerate innovation and build competitive domestic industries. Letha has also engaged in the international climate negotiations to improve the financing and delivery of energy technologies to developing countries. Letha has over ten years of experience in information technology, where she supported manufacturers efforts to reduce costs and manage production through global implementations of information systems. She also managed the development and implementation of utility billing information systems.

Letha holds a Master’s of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor’s in Business and Computer Science from George Fox University. She has written and co-authored many publications on accelerating innovation in renewable energy technology and reaping the economic benefits of the emerging industries.

Letha lives in Portland, Oregon where she enjoys gardening, hiking and visiting wind farms in the drizzle with her husband and two daughters.