Gov. Roy Cooper has appointed Peter Holderness Ledford to serve as North Carolina clean energy director, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.
Ledford most recently served as general counsel and director of policy at the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association where he has served in various capacities since 2014.
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Ledford is succeeding Dionne Delli-Gatti, who was appointed as the state clean energy director in June 2021. Delli-Gatti returned to a senior role at the Environmental Defense Fund earlier this year.
“Peter Ledford has the years of experience, knowledge and dedication needed to help North Carolina as we move toward a clean energy economy,” Cooper said in a statement. “I’m grateful he’s willing to continue serving our state in this important position.”
As North Carolina clean energy director, Ledford is to further the state’s goals in Executive Order 246, including achieving carbon neutrality, pursuing environmental justice for communities disproportionately impacted by pollution and creating economic opportunities in the clean energy sector, officials said.
“I’m deeply honored to be selected by Governor Cooper to be North Carolina’s next Clean Energy Director,” Ledford said in a statement. “I’m ready to put my experience working at the NC General Assembly and practicing before NC Utilities Commission, and my relationships with stakeholders and the clean energy industry to work, so we can make more progress on the important issues of clean energy, reducing carbon emissions, and the associated economic benefits for all North Carolinians.
Before Ledford’s work at the Sustainable Energy Association, he was in the research division of the North Carolina General Assembly as a staff attorney and legislative analyst. He has also worked in varying legal capacities, including as a fellowship attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. Ledford is a member of the board of directors for the Advanced Energy Corporation and a recipient of Energy News Network’s 40 Under 40 list. Ledford graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in geography and from the Wake Forest University School of Law in 2011.
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While in the position of clean energy director, Delli-Gatti was a lead negotiator for House Bill 951, putting carbon reduction requirements for utilities into state law, and helped craft Executive Order 246, which required a government and stakeholder-driven Clean Transportation Plan, set administration goals for environmental justice and continued North Carolina’s transition to a clean energy economy.
