Beth Deane

Beth Deane is the Chief Legal Officer for Electric Hydrogen, a manufacturer of electrolyzer systems that cost effectively take advantage of variable renewable energy resources to generate clean hydrogen for use as a storage mechanism or as a feedstock in multiple industries, including steel manufacturing, fertilizer production, chemical processing, refining, and long-distance heavy transportation. 

Prior to that she was Vice President, Deputy General Counsel of Leeward Renewable Energy, a growth-oriented U.S. renewable energy company with 22 renewable energy facilities in operation across nine states and over 20 GW of projects under development.  Before joining Leeward, Beth was Chief Counsel of Project Development at First Solar, a leading global provider of photovoltaic (PV) solar systems. In these roles, she has been involved in all aspects of renewable energy development, including real estate, permitting, interconnection, tax, and power procurement, as well as having responsibility for a wide variety of transactional, litigation, regulatory, and corporate matters.

Prior her work in the renewable energy industry, Ms. Deane was Of Counsel at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, where her practice was focused on environmental law, including compliance with hazardous waste, water and air requirements, regulatory strategy, permitting, civil and criminal litigation, land use, and redevelopment of contaminated property. Prior to that, she was at Munger, Tolles & Olson, where she gained experience in litigation, employment and corporate law.

Ms. Deane attended the Yale Law School and the University of Cincinnati, which she earned a B.A. in Economics. After law school, she spent a year in Ecuador evaluating local deforestation and sustainability issues. She currently lives in Berkeley, California with her husband and enjoys following the evolution of her two daughters into adulthood.