May 23, 2018
U.S.

Wind group hires 2 from oil and gas industry

Christa Marshall, E&E News reporter | Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 | www.eenews.net

The American Wind Energy Association has tapped two officials from the oil and gas industry for senior positions.

Bree Raum, formerly senior director of federal affairs for the American Gas Association, will become AWEA’s new vice president of federal affairs.

Raum previously worked on legislative issues at the National Propane Gas Association and did an earlier stint at AWEA on grass-roots advocacy. She will replace Jim Reilly as the head of the federal affairs team. Raum will start next week, AWEA said.

Also joining is Sari Fink as senior director of electricity and transmission policy, a role that targets new transmission and other regulatory barriers for wind. The position is a new one for AWEA.

Fink most recently worked for the American Petroleum Institute, where she focused on electricity markets and state outreach. She also has worked for Exelon Corp. and America’s Natural Gas Alliance, according to her LinkedIn page.

Additionally, the association hired Diane Miller as vice president of public affairs. She has more than two decades of experience managing public affairs campaigns and communication strategy, including in her current position as senior adviser at Strategic Elements LLC.

Miller also was a senior vice president of client relations at DDC Public Affairs and a partner at DCI Group LLC from 2008 to 2014.

Miller replaces Peter Kelley, who recently left AWEA to restart a public relations firm focused on clean technology (E&E News PM, March 1).

The U.S. wind industry surged to several records in 2017, generating more than 6 percent of U.S. electricity, according to AWEA.

However, the Department of Energy released three national lab reports last year saying future wind growth was unpredictable because of tax policy and natural gas prices (Greenwire, April 17).

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/05/23/wind-group-hires-2-from-oil-and-gas-industry/