Letha Tawney was appointed to the Oregon Public Utility Commission by Governor Kate Brown in June 2018 and appointed Chair in June 2025 by Governor Tina Kotek. 

Chair Tawney has worked regionally and nationally on affordable clean energy deployment, solutions for energy burdened households, and utility wildfire risk mitigation. She represents Oregon on the Energy Resources and Environment and the Critical Infrastructure committees for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). She also served on the Energy Trust of Oregon board from 2019 through 2024.

Throughout her tenure, Chair Tawney has championed regional cooperation that supports affordability and reliability. She serves on the Committee of State Representatives (COSR) for the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP), having engaged in the program since its inception. She also served on the Western Energy Market’s Body of State Regulators (WEM-BOSR) from 2018 through 2025, including terms as Vice-Chair and Chair. She was a founding sponsor of the West Wide Pathways Initiative, closely engaging to center customer protection and benefits.

Prior to her appointment, Chair Tawney was the World Resources Institute Polsky Chair for Renewable Energy where she propelled innovation in utility business and regulatory models and was a founding principal of the Clean Energy Buyers Alliance (CEBA).

Commissioner Tawney holds a Master’s of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.