This year Oregon's Citizens' Utility Board is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their executive director Bob Jenks' tenure at the helm of CUB. CUB itself has been around since 1984 but many Oregonians probably don't know how much they owe this advocacy group. In its three decades of service, CUB has saved Oregon ratepayers $5.3 billion. It's also led the way for Oregon's investment in energy efficiency, by helping create the Energy Trust of Oregon in 2002 and working for passage of the state's 25% Renewable Energy Standard. CUB has worked to ensure that Oregon takes the lead on the national stage in battling climate change, most notably by helping to negotiate the closure of the Boardman plant in the Gorge, which will be the first 1970s-era baseload coal plant in the United States to shut down due to climate concerns. On this episode of Locus Focus, Bob Jenks joins us to talk about CUB's achievements past and present and its vision for a clean, sustainable and affordable energy future for Oregon.
Bob Jenks is the Executive Director of CUB and a national expert on utility-related issues. Bob started working for CUB in 1991, and has participated in nearly every major Oregon Public Utility Commission case since that time, including dozens of cases dealing with utility mergers, rates, and deregulation. He also regularly represents ratepayers before the Oregon Legislature. Bob has on numerous occasions been flown across country to speak on utility issues before such groups as the California Legislature, the Northwest Public Power Association, and the Consumer Federation of America. Bob sits on the board of Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center, and is the Oregon representative of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA). Bob is a native Oregonian, and has an economics degree from Willamette University.
- KBOO