Board of Directors
Energy Trust of Oregon’s board of directors is a non-stakeholder, volunteer board. It also includes a representative from the Oregon Public Utility Commission as an ex-officio member, and an Oregon Department of Energy special advisor. The board oversees Energy Trust management, provides strategic and policy direction and approves the organization’s budget and major expenditures. The board carries out its oversight role through several committees. The board’s bylaws ensure that Energy Trust board meetings and other processes are clear, open and accessible to the public.
John Reynolds, President
John Reynolds, FAIA, is professor of architecture emeritus at the University of Oregon. He has been involved in energy issues in Oregon since 1972, when he was elected to the Eugene Water and Electric Board. Since then he has served as chair of the American Solar Energy Society and president of Solar Energy Association of Oregon. He has served on the Oregon Alternate Energy Commission and the Energy Committee of the Building Codes Structures Board.
Debbie Kitchin, Vice-President
Debbie Kitchin is the co-owner of InterWorks, LLC, a construction company specializing in commercial tenant improvement and renovation and residential remodeling services. InterWorks is an award-winning contractor specializing in sustainable building practices. Prior to joining the family business in 1996, she served as senior economist for the Northwest Power Planning Council for 15 years and was a regional economist for the Bonneville Power Administration for three years. She also serves on the boards for the Portland Business Alliance, Portland Building Owners and Managers Association and the Central Eastside Industrial Council. She is a past president of the Portland Commercial Real Estate Women.
Rick Applegate, Secretary
Rick Applegate is the principal at Applegate Consulting, specializing in natural resource policy, environmental banking and restoration, strategic planning and facilitation. For ten years, he was Portland Harbor Superfund administrator for the City of Portland, coordinating the City’s work on the Lower Willamette River cleanup. He served as Administrative Assistant and in senior legislative positions in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Since then he has worked for nearly 30 years on energy and environmental issues, principally as an advocate for salmon and their watersheds. He was the fish and wildlife director for the Northwest Power Planning Council, West Coast Conservation Director for Trout Unlimited and Assistant Regional Administrator and Senior Policy Advisor of the Habitat Conservation Division at National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA). He was the chair of the U.S. Southern Stakeholders Pacific Salmon Treaty Negotiations and a member of the Pacific Northwest Comprehensive Energy Review.
Dan Enloe, Treasurer
Dan Enloe is a commodity manager at Intel Corporation in Hillsboro, where he has worked in varying capacities since 1984. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a BS in Electrical Engineering. Prior to 1984, he was on active duty in the U.S. Navy and served as a nuclear submarine officer. Since he left active duty in 1984 he has been affiliated with the Naval Reserve and has served in six reserve command tours. He is a member of the Naval Reserve Association, the American Legion and the Navy League. He also has two patents.
Joe Benetti
Joe Benetti is a long-time restaurant owner and civic leader from Coos Bay. He is chair of the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport Commission and a board member and past chair of the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association. He served three terms as mayor of Coos Bay, 12 years as a Coos Bay city councilor and six years as City Council Chair. In other public service positions, Joe served on and chaired the Coos Bay-North Bend Promotions Committee, the Coos Bay urban renewal agency and the Coos County urban renewal agency. He also has served on the executive board of the Bay Area Chamber board and currently represents the airport commission on that board. His restaurant, Benetti’s Italian Restaurant, is located on S. Broadway in Coos Bay.
Julie Brandis
Julie Brandis, director of corporate relations for the Oregon State University Foundation, connects local, regional and national companies to the university through its first comprehensive fundraising effort, The Campaign for OSU, by matching their research and employment needs with internationally recognized researchers and high-achieving OSU students. Previously, she spent 17 years as the energy lobbyist for Associated Oregon Industries, Oregon’s largest business advocacy organization.
Ken Canon
Ken Canon founded and led for 24 years the Industrial Customers of NW Utilities, ICNU, a regional industrial trade association focused on electric energy issues. Since retiring from ICNU in 2005, Ken chaired a committee that examined performance of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and managed the NW Energy Efficiency Task Force. Earlier in his career Ken designed and implemented a comprehensive energy-efficiency program at an International Paper mill. Working for Associated Oregon Industries, he drafted and helped enact Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit. He has a long history of organizing, managing and advising nonprofit organizations. Applying his expertise to his living situation, Ken built the first ENERGY STAR® home in Douglas County. Ken, a life-long Oregonian, was born and raised in Medford and is a graduate of Southern Oregon University and Willamette University College of Law.
Jason Eisdorfer
Jason Eisdorfer recently became the Greenhouse Gas Policy Strategist for the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency serving the Pacific Northwest. He serves as the senior technical consultant and advisor to BPA on the development and implementation of strategic objectives, policies and programs related to global, national and state greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide issues. He served as legal counsel and energy program director of the Citizens' Utility Board of Oregon from 1994 and 2008. At CUB, he represented residential consumers in numerous rate cases and policy dockets before the Oregon Public Utility Commission. He has co-authored legislation related to electric utility operations and to climate change, including the Oregon Renewable Energy Act and the Climate Change Integration Act, both of 2007. He is an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Law School and the University of Oregon School of Law. Prior to joining CUB, he was an attorney with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of General Counsel, and served an appointment as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. He received his law degree from the University of Oregon School of Law and received certificates of completion in the Environment and Natural Resources Program and the Ocean and Coastal Program. He received his B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Roger Hamilton
Roger Hamilton is manager of the local government and communities program of the Climate Leadership Initiative at the University of Oregon. He also is a consultant with Western Grid Group, an organization that promotes transmission access for renewable energy projects across the West. He owns and operates a cattle and hay ranch in south central Oregon. He has spent many years in public service as a Klamath County Commissioner, advisor on energy and watersheds to Governor Kitzhaber and Oregon Public Utility Commissioner. He has also served on the Oregon State Parks Commission and the National Association of Public Utility Commissioners. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Regulatory Assistance Project and the Pacific Rivers Council.
Jeff King
Jeff King has a long history working in the energy industry, having spent more than 25 years as a senior resource analyst for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. His work at the council involved assessing a variety of issues around the development and operation of existing and emerging electric power generation resources in the Pacific Northwest. His analysis and research was used in the development of the council’s Sixth Northwest Conservation and Electric Power Plan. He has been actively involved in working with utilities, government agencies and public interest groups, and served as the council’s representative on Energy Trust’s Renewable Energy Advisory Council before joining the board of directors.
Alan Meyer
Alan Meyer is Director of Energy Management for Weyerhaeuser Company, a diversified forest products manufacturing company. He is responsible for coordinating energy management activities at numerous manufacturing facilities throughout North America. Prior to joining Weyerhaeuser, he was Director of Energy for Willamette Industries, holding similar responsibilities. He also worked for PacifiCorp as the Oregon Large Industrial Accounts Manager. He brings this extensive experience in the energy industry plus prior sales and marketing experience to the Energy Trust board.
John Savage, Ex-Officio
John Savage is one of three commissioners serving the Oregon Public Utility Commission. He joined the staff of the OPUC in 2003 as director of its utility program, after having served as director of Oregon Department of Energy for the previous decade. He was administrator of the department's policy and planning division from 1987-1993. He received a Master’s degree in natural resource economics from Oregon State University in 1979 and a Bachelor of Science degree from OSU in 1975.
Bob Repine, Oregon Department of Energy Special Advisor to the board
Bob Repine is the Director of the Oregon Department of Energy where he is working to enhance Oregon’s leadership role among states in growing a clean energy economy. He previously served as a special advisor to Governor Kulongoski on construction of the new Oregon State Hospital after serving as director of the Oregon Department of Economic and Community Development from 2006-2008 and director of the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services from 1998-2006. A former construction contractor, he previously was an elected member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing Grants Pass and surrounding communities from 1988-1998 and served as co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Committee on Ways & Means for the 1995 and 1997 legislative sessions.