DEPUTY DIRECTOR, STATE TRANSMISSION POLICY

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Kate French is the Deputy Director for State Transmission Policy with BlueGreen Alliance. As a lifelong Westerner, she has focused her work on creating a more resilient future for the area’s diverse communities and landscapes. She spent 9 years as a board member and then as a researcher for the Northern Plains Resource Council, a rural Montana grassroots organization. During this time, she forged new partnerships between environmentalists, ranchers, power plant workers, and unions to successfully advocate for comprehensive closure of the coal ash pond complex in Colstrip, MT.

She then spent 3 years as a regional organizer with the Western Organization of Resources Councils to advance Just Transition and clean energy policies at the national level. Her research and reports on the economic impacts and job creation potential of complete coal ash pond closure and coal mine remediation have been widely cited and utilized by coalfield communities around the country.

Her other work on rural community resilience –local policymaking, community agricultural practices, and rural electric cooperatives –has allowed her to partner and work alongside many diverse stakeholders all across the West.

Kate earned her BA from the University of Colorado and her Masters of Public Administration from Montana State University. She is based in Livingston, Montana.