Former energy czar joins industry board

Carol M. Browner, a former White House official and environmental regulator, is joining the advisory board of Opower, a company that works with the utility industry and consumers to encourage more effective energy use.

Browner said she believes in Opower’s mission to create “new and innovative ways around the world and to maximize efficiency that saves money for consumers and reduces power consumption.”

“Utilities face a host of new challenges including changing consumer expectations and needs, and evolving regulatory models that prioritize cleaner sources of energy and energy efficiency,” Browner said in a statement. “[I] am excited to be part of an organization that is making a huge impact on reducing carbon pollution and protecting public health.”

Browner served as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration, and worked as President Obama’s top climate change and energy industry advisor.

Since leaving the energy and climate czar position in 2011, Browner returned to the Albright Stonebridge Group, a firm she helped form in 2001, and has been working as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Opower’s president and co-founder, Alex Laskey, called her a “talented advocate for the environment.”

“As we enter a new phase of growth, Carol’s expertise will help Opower in its mission to motivate everyone on earth to save energy,” he said. 

Other former senior power industry executives on Opower’s board include John Rowe of Exelon and Dick Kelly of Xcel Energy.