I’m three weeks into my role as CETI’s new Executive Director, and I am excited to be here! It has been a whirlwind of getting to know our terrific staff, Board of Directors, and programs, and I’m benefiting from a thoughtful handoff by CETI founder Eileen V. Quigley.
After decades of environmental, clean energy, and climate work in advocacy organizations and state government, I was drawn to CETI’s work at this juncture in the clean energy transition for several reasons.
I’m passionate about CETI’s mission to accelerate an equitable transition to clean energy in the Northwest. As a lifelong resident of Washington and Oregon, I love this extraordinary corner of the country. We do big things here, and the clean energy transition underway presents historic challenges and opportunities.
Energy can be an intensely wonky topic, but fundamentally it is shared infrastructure for our daily lives, jobs, and communities. Our energy system is now at an extraordinary inflection point. We face rapidly growing electricity demand, aging equipment that needs upgrading or replacement, rising costs putting stress on household budgets, and climate impacts like wildfire harming communities and energy infrastructure.
Artificial intelligence is poised to bring about major changes across society, including our energy systems, in yet unknown ways. Though data centers’ rapidly growing need for power is one upfront challenge, done right it could also bring grid upgrades and flexibility.
Affordable clean energy technologies, ambitious policies that incentivize clean energy investment, and community-based solutions are all working to meet these challenges in our region. Yet, it’s still a gnarly tangle. We’re in the thick of an enormous transformation, and there’s so much complexity we need to understand and discuss to find paths forward for our region.
CETI has a critical role to play—producing credible research and analysis; demystifying complexity and insider jargon, so that people with a stake in the outcomes have the information they need to participate; and convening conversations that grapple with complex realities. Building on our strong history, the Board has charged me with helping to chart the next chapter for CETI, in dialogue and partnership with players across the Northwest’s energy ecosystem. I look forward to talking with many of you about how CETI can bring the greatest value to our shared work.
As we think about our next chapter, these are some of my guiding values and perspectives:
Throughout the interview process for this role, I thought often of the saying that if people can get you asking the wrong questions, the answers don’t matter. I’m excited to work with the CETI team and partners throughout the region to ask the right questions, develop answers and analysis with integrity, and have the hard conversations that catalyze change as we work together to accelerate an equitable transition to clean energy.
Looking forward,
Becky Kelley
CETI Executive Director
There is still time to register for tomorrow’s webinar, ‘The Human Side of Heat Pumps: Behavioral Insights for Customers and Contractors,’ which will take place at 9:30 AM PT.
The session will provide two parallel perspectives on the heat pump journey–that of a customer and a contractor. Four core questions will be answered from both perspectives based on social and behavioral science research informed by the technical specificities of heat pumps. The questions include: What are heat pumps and why should I care? Will they work in my/this house? What will it cost/how much should I charge? How do I get one?
CETI Research Director Dr. Stacia Dreyer will moderate the discussion with presentations from Dr. Sarah Outcault (Market Transformation Research Director at the UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute and Western Cooling Efficiency Center) and Dr. Jen Loomis (Market Research & Evaluation Senior Manager at Resource Innovations/California Market Transformation Administrator).
At the beginning of the month, Poppy Storm presented the SCALE 2030: Clean Buildings Roadmap for Washington at ACEEE’s 2026 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings on behalf of the SCALE 2030 team.
Research Analyst Jeanne Currie continues to support Shift Zero’s Upgrade and Save Workgroup. The group is researching and considering various ways to advance inclusive utility investment as an energy upgrade financing tool for Washington’s households and small businesses.
The SCALE 2030 team continues to work on outreach and socializing SCALE 2030. Please reach out if you would like to learn more about the project or have an opportunity for us to present.
This month, Sightline Institute released two reports related to transmission in the Pacific Northwest: Unlocking the Northwest’s Energy Future and Messaging the Northwest’s Energy Future.
Unlocking the Northwest’s Energy Future provides policy recommendations to responsibly accelerate transmission line permitting in Oregon and Washington. It outlines how current permitting systems function, highlights challenges, and details four opportunities for improving permitting processes in the Pacific Northwest.
Messaging the Northwest’s Energy Future tackles the question of how to communicate more effectively about transmission issues and solutions. Sightline measured policy support and tested effective messages to develop strategic communications recommendations for lawmakers, advocates, and others.
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