Leuwam Tesfai

Deputy Executive Director for Energy and Climate Policy, California Public Utilities Commission

2023 C3E Government Award Winner

Leuwam Tesfai is the Deputy Executive Director for Energy and Climate Policy at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), where she leads the Energy Division comprising over 200 analysts and engineers. In her current role, she offers crucial technical advisory support to the CPUC’s Commissioners and Administrative Law Judges. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff and Legal Advisor to Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma, a position she assumed in 2019 under the appointment of California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Since joining the CPUC in 2011, Tesfai has held various significant roles, including Advisor to former Commissioner Liane Randolph and in the CPUC’s Legal, Energy and Administrative Law Judge Divisions. Throughout her tenure, she has demonstrated leadership across a spectrum of issues, including clean energy procurement, transmission development, climate adaptation, reliability, energy efficiency, transportation electrification, complex energy finance and rate recovery, and distributed energy resources. She has also represented the State of California before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In 2021, Tesfai earned recognition from Public Utilities Fortnightly, receiving a Top Innovator Award for her exceptional leadership in shaping groundbreaking microgrid policies. With a background in the private sector, she has contributed to the advancement of renewable energy markets, siting and permitting generation facilities, and commercialization of clean energy technologies.

Tesfai also shares her expertise as a speaker on energy regulations in the international program of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, collaborating with the U.S. Department of State in Africa and South America. She has effectively represented California at the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) on Climate Change.

Her commitment extends to various leadership roles: she serves on the board of the League of Women Voters San Francisco, holds a position on the Executive Committee of the Environmental Law Section of the California Bar, and is an active member of the American Association of Blacks in Energy.

Her educational background includes completing her studies at Emory University and the University of San Francisco School of Law.