Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is the nation's most effective environmental action organization. We use law, science and the support of 1.4 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our staff helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, and many of the implementing regulations; our water enforcement cases played a major role shaping current water policy throughout the country. Today, our staff of more than 500 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy and communications experts, and others, work out of offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Bozeman and Beijing. Position Summary: NRDC is a seeking Senior Attorney to work with the Sustainable FERC Project team in our Washington, DC office. The Sustainable FERC Project is an initiative housed in NRDC’s Energy and Transportation Program that represents many national and regional environmental organizations on transmission grid regulations and policies related to the deployment of renewable energy, demand response, energy efficiency, distributed generation and energy storage. The Project serves as a voice of the environmental and clean energy community at FERC and in FERC-jurisdictional grid market and planning regions on electric system policies and regional transmission grid planning processes. The Project’s current priorities include removing market barriers in the RTOs/ISOs to ensure a level playing field for renewable energy and demand-side resources, improving FERC’s Order 1000 on transmission planning and cost allocation, navigating a successful legal and policy course through the blurred lines of federal and state electricity regulatory jurisdiction, and ensuring comparable treatment for non-wires options like demand response and energy efficiency in grid planning and markets. Find out more at www.sustainableferc.org. The successful applicant will help to manage the Sustainable FERC Project’s advocacy to integrate wind, solar, energy efficiency, demand response, energy storage, and similar clean, low-carbon energy resources into the electric grid through reforms to FERC-jurisdictional markets, operations, and planning. Position includes leading advocacy at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, identifying key regulatory grid issues and developing strategies to address those issues, advocating for changes in line with those strategies, and supporting litigation in support of the Project’s mission. The role calls for the combination of leadership and advocacy skills with the flexibility, diplomatic, organizational and communication skills necessary to facilitate coalitions of many organizations and allies around different issues. Successful candidates will have demonstrated both strong independent initiative and the ability to contribute effectively as a member of a team and collaborate across organizations.
Conceive and advocate for FERC-jurisdictional solutions to achieve the Sustainable FERC Project’s mission and goals for clean energy development and a low-carbon electricity future, including solutions for wholesale electricity market design and performance, transmission planning and cost allocation.Advocate for other federal and state regulatory and legislative reforms to power grid policies necessary to accelerate the transformation of our nation’s energy to a mix of low-carbon renewable energy and demand side resources.Provide counsel and guidance to coalition members on FERC-related energy policy issues, including issues impacting both federal and state authority over electricity.Represent our coalition and NRDC at FERC and FERC-jurisdictional planning and market regions, Congress, state commissions, and other forums and proceedings.Identify allies and build coalitions of clean energy and public interest organizations across the country.
Minimum 5 years experience and a graduate level degree; JD strongly preferred. A degree in a related discipline such as energy, public policy, finance, economics, or engineering will be considered, preferably in combination with a JD.Significant experience in FERC, RTO/ISO and/or state utility commission rulemakings and/or other related proceedings.Excellent legal writing skills and the ability to grasp and translate technical transmission grid issues into plain English.Oral advocacy experience and comfort speaking in varied settings, ranging from working groups to conferences.Strategic thinking ability.Strong interpersonal skills.Willingness to travel (estimated 25% of the time).Able to lead and participate on teams that work collaboratively toward shared outcomes. NRDC is committed to workplace diversity and inclusion.
We are equal opportunity employers and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a pleasant working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with experience. T
o apply, please create a profile and upload your resume and cover letter. Please no phone calls, emails, faxes or in-person resume drop-offs. Please reference where you saw this posting. If you are having technical difficulty while applying, please email us at hr@nrdc.org. For further information about NRDC, please visit www.nrdc.org