Lori Bird is the U.S. Director of WRI’s Polsky Center for the Global Energy Transition (the WRI Polsky Energy Center). In this role, she leads a team of specialists who work with policymakers, regulators, utilities, governments, and large energy users to accelerate the transition to a more affordable, abundant, reliable and clean U.S. energy system.

The U.S. team focuses on scaling clean energy adoption to meet rising demand, development of resilient transmission and distribution infrastructure, and overcoming the most pressing challenges in this shift—including siting and permitting, workforce development, technology financing, and responsible sourcing of critical minerals.  

Prior to joining WRI, she served as a principal analyst in the Markets and Policy Group of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where she worked on clean energy policy, renewable energy grid integration, solar programs for low-income customers, clean electricity standards, and renewable energy markets. She has also provided testimony and technical assistance to state agencies and international clients on clean energy policy and deployment. She also helped stand up and implement several multi-million dollar programs to deploy and scale clean energy adoption.

Over her career, she has co-authored nearly 150 publications on clean energy, including articles in academic and trade journals, such as Energy Policy, IEEE Power and Energy, the Electricity Journal, Climate Policy, Energy & Environment and Public Utilities Fortnightly. She was also a contributing author to the IPCC Special Report on Renewables. She has been quoted or had her work cited in major media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NPR, the New York Times, USA Today, and Business Week. In 2020, she was the recipient of the American Solar Energy Society’s award for Leadership in Solar Policy and Market Transformation and, earlier, received the NREL Chairman’s award and two President’s awards for her sustained contributions on clean energy markets.

Earlier in her career, she worked for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and for Hagler Bailly Consulting. She holds a master's degree in environmental studies from Yale University’s School of the Environment and a B.A. in economics and environmental studies from Indiana University. She lives in a home featuring solar panels and passive solar design with her family in Boulder, CO and has owned an electric vehicle since 2015.