Commissioners

Les Perkins, Commissioner

Les Perkins was appointed to the Oregon Public Utility Commission by Governor Tina Kotek in February 2024.

Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Perkins represented the rural south end of Hood River County as a Hood River County Commissioner since 2001. While serving as a Commissioner, Perkins represented Hood River County on the board of the Community Renewable Energy Association where he served as Chair. Perkins also served in leadership roles with the Association of Oregon Counties, most recently as Co-Chair of the Natural Resources Legislative Committee, which included energy. Perkins was a longtime member of the Hood River Energy Council which developed an energy plan for Hood River County. Additionally, he gained expertise in energy and water utility management as general manager of the Farmers Irrigation District, which owns and operates two in-conduit hydropower facilities. Commissioner Perkins was also co-founder of Farmers Conservation Alliance, a non-profit focused on finding resource solutions for rural communities, specifically around energy and water.

Commissioner Perkins holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Lewis and Clark College.

Term: March 18, 2024 – February 15, 2028

Letha Tawney, Commissioner

Letha Tawney was appointed to the Oregon Public Utility Commission by Governor Kate Brown in June 2018. Commissioner Tawney represents Oregon on the Electricity and the Critical Infrastructure committees for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). She also serves on the Energy Trust of Oregon Board of Directors, as well as the Energy Imbalance Market Board of State Regulators (EIM-BOSR), engaging closely on Western electricity market development in several forums.

Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Tawney was an expert on electric utility business models, state regulation, clean energy development, and large customer buying strategies for World Resources Institute (WRI). As the WRI Polsky Chair for Renewable Energy, she propelled innovation in business and regulatory models in the power sector. Commissioner Tawney has a deep understanding of the constraints and interests driving both utilities and their customers as technology creates large-scale change in the sector.

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

Partial Term: June 18, 2018 – May 31, 2020

First Full Term: June 1, 2020 - May 31, 2024

Second Full Term: June 1, 2024 - May 31, 2028