Oregon and Montana Members Will Lead the Council in 2021

At its January meeting, the Council elected Richard Devlin, an Oregon member, Chair and Bo Downen, a Montana member, vice chair for 2021. Devlin and Downen served in the same roles in 2020.

Devlin was appointed to the Council in 2018 by Oregon Governor Kate Brown. Devlin served 31 years as an elected official in Oregon, first at the local and regional level, and later in the Oregon House of Representatives and the Oregon Senate. From 2007 to 2010 he was the Majority Leader of the Senate. He then was appointed Co-Chair of Ways and Means, a position he held until his appointment to the Council in January 2018. He graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in administration of justice, and Pepperdine University with a Master of Arts in management. His occupational background is in adult and juvenile corrections, and civil and criminal investigations, and he served in the United States Marine Corps.

Downen was appointed to the Council by Montana Governor Steve Bullock in 2019. Before his appointment to the Council, Downen was the director of environmental and regional affairs at the Public Power Council, a regional association of consumer-owned electric utilities. Downen joined the Public Power Council as a policy analyst in 2006, focusing on the Council’s fish and wildlife program, energy efficiency policy, and regional power planning. He graduated from Georgetown University and the Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Chair Devlin announced the following committee chairs: Patrick Oshie, Washington member, Chair of the Power Planning Committee; Jeffery Allen, Idaho, Chair of the Fish and Wildlife Committee, and Ted Ferrioli, Oregon, Chair of the Public Affairs Committee.