Carla Peterman

Carla Peterman was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in January 2011. She filled the Public Member 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 Peterman is the lead commissioner on renewable energy and transportation.

Ms. Peterman has conducted research at the University of California Energy Institute at Haas since 2006 and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 2008 to 2010. She was an environmental business analyst with community development non-profit Isles from 2004 to 2005 and was an associate focused on energy financing in the investment banking division of Lehman Brothers from 2002 to 2004. Ms. Peterman also served on the board of directors for The Utility Reform Network from 2008-2011, most recently as Board Treasurer.

Ms. Peterman will complete her doctoral studies this year in Energy and Resources at the University of California Berkeley. Her research focuses on solar photovoltaic markets, policy, and financial incentives. She has also worked and written on a wide range of California energy and policy issues including, cap-and-trade, efficacy of local environmental regulations, climate change and communities of color, clean energy subsidies, and energy security. Peterman holds a B.A. in history from Howard University and an M.S. in environmental change and management and an M.B.A. from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.