Tim Welch

Timothy Welch is an experienced hydropower strategic and technical advisor with 35 years of federal service to the hydropower industry. A trained fishery biologist, Tim’s hydropower expertise stems from his 25-year tenure at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), supervising interdisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers in the preparation of over 30 FERC environmental documents (EISs and EAs) and draft licenses. In addition, Tim led the Department of Energy’s (DOE) $60M hydropower technology R&D program, including DOE’s landmark 2016 Hydropower Vision report, charting a 30-year growth trajectory for both conventional and pumped storage hydropower. Throughout his career, Tim has championed efforts to streamline the FERC licensing process for both conventional and marine hydropower through formal rulemakings and intergovernmental agency agreements. In addition to his technical expertise, Tim’s facilitation and negotiating skills have resulted in successful intergovernmental agreements and FERC licensing settlement agreements. Most notably, Tim led the development of several interagency agreements among FERC, Department of Energy, Corps of Engineers, Department of the Interior and the State of California streamlining the hydropower regulatory process on both state and federal levels and optimizing operations of the federal hydropower fleet. As a capstone to his federal career, Tim developed and implemented the DOE Grid Deployment Office’s $750M hydroelectric incentives program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure law.