Paul Thomsen is the director of policy and business development, for Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA).
Thomsen manages Ormat’s federal, state and local legislative programs and geothermal project development in the U.S. He serves as Ormat’s principal liaison with organizations and advocacy groups involved in the renewable energy sector.
Nationally, Mr. Thomsen is the President to the Board of Directors of the Geothermal Energy Association; serves as past-chairman of the United States Clean Heat and Power Association; is an industry expert on the DOE Geothermal Technologies Program Blue Ribbon Panel; and, sits on Senator Harry Reid’s Blue Ribbon Council on Renewable Energy. In Nevada, Thomsen currently serves as the president of the Nevada Geothermal Council and sits on the boards of the Economic Development Authority of Nevada, the Nevada Mining Association and the Nevada Conservation League. And, he was appointed by Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons to the Transition Team for Energy and Natural Resources.
Before coming to Ormat, Thomsen worked for United States Senator Richard Bryan and United States Senator Harry Reid, where he handled public lands and energy issues. Most recently, Thomsen worked for the law firm of Lionel Sawyer and Collins.
Thomsen received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Nevada, Reno. Academic works include: “Renewable Energy in the State of Nevada: Public Policy Implications for an Emergent Resource Area” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Ormat Technologies is a world leader in the geothermal power plant sector. The company has four decades of experience in the development of state of the art, environmentally sound power solutions, primarily in geothermal and recovered energy generation. Ormat is responsible for the development of over 1,000 MW of geothermal generation throughout the world and over 400 MW of generation in the United States.
