Ms. Katharine Ann Fredriksen
Acting Assistant Secretary of Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC
Katharine Fredriksen currently serves as the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the Department of Energy. She represents the agency before Congress, works with other federal agencies to ensure a comprehensive energy strategy that meets the nation’s growing energy demands, and supports the international efforts of the office to secure the nation’s energy diversity.
Prior to joining the agency, Katharine was the Principal and founder of her own consulting firm, CapitolPlus Consulting, specializing in energy and environment issues before Congress, the White House and federal regulatory agencies. She represented clients ranging from financial services to energy companies, guiding them through issues such as permitting, tax, environmental and energy legislation, as well as clean coal initiatives.
Katharine served as the Director of Federal Affairs for Mirant Corporation. As Director she managed a small federal affairs office of registered lobbyists to develop and maintain Congressional and Administration relationships for energy and environmental issues and assist in the development of company policy on such issues. Mirant’s ownership of power plants in 26 states required that Katharine work closely with those states’ federal delegations, in addition to the members and staff of Senate and House committees whose jurisdiction covered issues of importance to the company. Under Katharine’s leadership the company was able to effectively defeat legislation during the recent debate of Energy legislation that would have stopped the development of electricity markets vital to the company’s business model. She worked to assemble a coalition of similar, independent electricity producers and grasstop advocates to strengthen the voice for the benefits of markets in electricity production and distribution.
Prior to working with Mirant, Katharine was Director of Environmental Affairs for Koch Industries, a privately held conglomerate with oil, gas, and chemical interests. Along with Koch’s Vice President of Environmental Affairs, she helped oversee the development and implementation of an environmental management system, and worked with the business units to obtain necessary operating permits from federal agencies. She was instrumental in successfully negotiating a consent decree for new source review with the EPA and Department of Justice, the first for the refining industry. She worked with Congress to draft legislation that used a market-based approach to control environmental pollutants.
Before joining Koch, Katharine worked for the U.S. EPA to develop regulatory policy for air and waste management for such industries as paints, and dyes and pigments. She also led a team in the development of cross-agency regulation to govern emissions and waste disposal of the pulp and paper industry.
Katharine was Manager of Federal Affairs for the American Chemistry Council, then known as the Chemical Manufacturers Association. She managed association committees to develop industry positions, and she ensured members were kept up-to-date on federal activities for key issues. She prepared comments by the industry on proposed hazardous air and waste regulations and was responsible for the advocacy of association positions before the Administration and Congress.
Katharine holds a B.S. in Marine Biology and an M.S. in Environmental and Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University, abd. She is actively involved in the Women in Science and Engineering, and Women in Government Relations organizations.
February-11-2012