Karen Douglas

Commissioner
California Energy Commission

Karen Douglas was originally appointed to the California Energy Commission by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in February 2008 and re-appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in December 2012 and February 2018. She served as Chair from February 2009 to February 2011. She fills the Attorney position on the five-member Commission where four of the five members by law are required to have professional training in specific areas-engineering or physical science, environmental protection, economics, and law. Commissioner Douglas is the lead commissioner on power plant siting.

From 2005 to 2008, Ms. Douglas served as Director of the California Climate Initiative at the Environmental Defense Fund. Prior to going to the Environmental Defense Fund, Ms. Douglas spent four years at the Planning and Conservation League. Commissioner Douglas is a 2001 graduate of the Stanford Law School and holds a Master’s Degree in public policy from the University of Colorado, Boulder.