Sheri Givens

President and Chief Executive Officer, Smart Electric Power Alliance

Ambassador

Sheri Givens’ professional experience includes over twenty years in legal, regulatory, legislative, and external affairs in both the public and private sectors. She has served as President and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) since November 2022. SEPA is a non-profit, membership-focused organization comprising over 1,000 clean energy stakeholders, from utilities to corporations, focused on accelerating an affordable, reliable, resilient, and equitable transformation to a clean energy system.

Givens joined SEPA after serving as vice president and head of U.S. policy and regulatory strategy at National Grid, an investor-owned utility in the U.S. Northeast. She led and supported the company’s efforts toward an equitable and affordable clean energy transition, as well as net-zero planning and progress, customer offerings, legislative strategy, external stakeholder engagement, and electric and heat strategy for Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island. Prior to joining National Grid, she headed an independent consulting company providing advisory services on energy markets, consumer education, and regulatory policy issues. Her clients included trade associations, non-profit organizations, domestic and international utilities, federal and state governmental entities, consumer advocates, and policymakers.

Givens spent over ten years in public service in several senior roles in Texas. She served as an attorney for the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Texas Workforce Commission, and Texas Legislature. She was a Governor-appointed Texas utility consumer advocate and, in that role, led the state’s Office of Public Utility Counsel representing over 20 million residential and small business electric and communications customers in regulatory, legislative, and legal proceedings and hearings. As the consumer advocate, she initiated a first-of-its-kind statewide consumer education campaign, frequently meeting in person with consumers to discuss energy education and assistance related to their homes and businesses. In 2013, the Association for the United States Army awarded her the Citation for Exceptional Service in Support of National Defense for her statewide military consumer education program and advocacy.

Givens also represented residential and small business consumers on both the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’s and Texas Reliability Entity’s Boards of Directors. Givens was elected by fellow nationwide consumer advocates to serve on the Executive Committee of National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA), and in 2018, NASUCA recognized her dedication and contributions to the organization and consumers by presenting her with the Irwin “Sonny” Popowsky Outstanding Service Award. Givens currently serves as Co-Chair on the RE+ Events Board. She previously served on the U.S. Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships Board, Keystone Energy Board, Association of Women in Energy Board, Northeast Clean Energy Council Board, and Boston Green Ribbon Commission.

Givens earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center. She is a licensed attorney in Texas.