Malcolm Woolf leads the National Hydropower Association (NHA), the national trade association representing America’s water power industry as its president and CEO.

NHA’s 350+ hydropower, pumped storage, and marine energy member companies operate in 48 states and together provide reliable, secure, and emission-free electricity to an estimated 25 million households and businesses.

Under Woolf’s tenure, NHA secured a level playing field with other emission-free resources in recent federal legislation. NHA also launched the Clean Currents annual North American water power conference and trade show, and the Hydro Academy, offering industry training programs. Woolf also negotiated a historic collaboration between hydropower industry, river conservation groups and climate advocates, known as the Uncommon Dialogue.

Woolf has decades of experience at the intersection of clean energy, policy and business. Malcolm previously led policy advocacy for Advanced Energy Economy, a multi- technology association of clean energy businesses. He also served as the Cabinet-level head of the Maryland Energy Administration and energy advisor to Governor Martin O’Malley, receiving national recognition for designing and implementing an ambitious sustainability legislative package that, a decade later, reduced Maryland’s carbon emissions more than any other state (30%) and resulted in lifetime energy savings in excess of $8 billion.

Woolf previously served as: director of the National Governors Association’s Natural Resources Committee, counsel to the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, senior attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and an associate at the law firms of Winston & Strawn and DLA Piper.

Frequently quoted in media outlets, Woolf has been appointed to multiple federal advisory boards, twice elected chair of the National Association of State Energy Officials, and recognized by Harvard’s JFK School for launching “one of the top 25 innovations in American government.” He currently serves on the Board of the Business Counsel for Sustainable Energy.

Woolf earned his law degree, as well as a Masters of Public Administration and Public Policy, from the University of Virginia. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Tufts University, with a year at Pembroke College, Oxford University. Woolf is the proud dad of two daughters, and lives with his wife and dogs in Annapolis, MD. When not touring a hydropower facility, Woolf can be found sailing or kayaking on the Chesapeake Bay, reading in his hammock, or writing historical fiction.