Megan Decker, ChairMegan Decker was appointed to the Oregon Public Utility Commission by Governor Kate Brown in April 2017 and was promoted to Commission Chair in May 2018. Chair Decker represents Oregon as Co-Chair of the Committee on Regional Electric Power Cooperation (CREPC), as well as a member of the Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body (WIRAB) and the Enrolled Parties and States Committee of NorthernGrid, a regional transmission planning organization. She also previously served as Co-Vice-Chair of the Energy Resources and the Environment Committee for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).
Prior to her appointment, Chair Decker was an Assistant General Counsel with the Port of Portland. She developed expertise in energy policy and regulation as Chief Counsel for Renewable Northwest, where she managed utility commission advocacy in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana and served as Board Chair of the NW Energy Coalition. Chair Decker’s legal experience also includes private practice in land use and a clerkship with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Chair Decker earned her law degree from the University of Washington, where she graduated with high honors. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Stanford University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, earned honors in Latin American Studies, and received the Firestone Medal for Excellence in Research.
First Term: April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2021
Second Term: April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2025
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.
First Term: June 18, 2018 – May 31, 2020
Second Term: June 1, 2020 - May 31, 2024
Mark Thompson, Commissioner
Mark Thompson was appointed to the Oregon Public Utility Commission by Governor Kate Brown in November 2019 to a four-year term.
Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Thompson was a partner at a small law firm that specializes in energy and administrative law, where he provided counsel and representation to energy project developers, utilities, energy consumers and other businesses involved in energy. Commissioner Thompson also previously worked as the Senior Director of Rates and Regulatory Affairs at NW Natural Gas Company, and prior to that, was Staff Counsel for the Public Power Council, where he represented northwest consumer-owned utilities before the Bonneville Power Administration and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Commissioner Thompson serves on the Oregon Broadband Advisory Council and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Committee on Natural Gas.
He holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Lewis and Clark Law School, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation Biology from Brigham Young University.
Term: December 1, 2019 – November 30, 2023