Western Resource Advocates

WRA claims its work uses science-based terms while presenting itself as a nonpartisan, solutions-oriented group. Previous board officers have included Ron Binz, the former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission whose was previously nominated in 2013 to chair the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for then-President Barack Obama before withdrawing due to criticism over his previous record of drafting weather-dependent energy legislation in the state of Colorado. ^{2  4 5}

Background and History

Western Resource Advocates (WRA) was founded in 1989 as a regional environmental organization based in Boulder, Colorado. The organization began with a focus on environmental law and policy and later added economists, engineers, and policy advocates to its staff, expanding from Colorado into a seven-state footprint across the Interior West. By 2026, it maintained offices in Boulder and Denver, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; Reno, Nevada; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Salt Lake City, Utah, and described its work as extending to Montana and Wyoming, where it kept no physical office. ^{3  1}

According to a biography published by the organization, its annual revenue tripled during Jon Goldin-Dubois’s tenure, which began in 2014 and who serves as of 2026, funding an expansion of staff across the region. ³

Advocacy

Western Resource Advocates (WRA) has argued in favor of state governments and utility regulators adopting weather-dependent energy sources while increase the amount of land protected from development. ²

WRA proposes cutting carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 while shutting down more coal and natural-gas-fired power plants in favor of alternative weather-dependent energy sources. It promoted such practices through regulatory and legislative advocacy before state utility commissions, legislation with state lawmakers, and promoting its views to local and state policy makers. ^{2  3  6}

Activities

Western Resource Advocates (WRA) primarily focuses advocacy on electricity system regulation, where it has previously intervened in utility-commission proceedings to push for the retirement of coal-fired power plants while replacing them with weather-dependent energy. One example used by the WRA includes the Colorado Energy Plan, approved by Colorado regulators in 2018, to commit the state’s largest utility firm to reducing overall carbon emissions in the state by more than 50 percent. The organization claims that its previous campaigns had contributed to the planned closure of multiple coal-fired power plants. ^{3  7}

WRA was also involved in water management, with a stated goal of reducing usage in western U.S states by 25 percent. It claims that its work has helped negotiate stream protections for the San Miguel and Dolores rivers in southwestern Colorado and had worked with the city of Aspen, Colorado, to identify alternatives to two proposed dams on Castle and Maroon creeks. The organization claims its water work had helped protect more than 1,000 miles of Western rivers. ^{3  7}

WRA has also been involved in public land and habitat conservation. The organization advocated for protecting and connecting large areas of Western land and supported state commitments to conserve 30 percent of land by 2030 and it reported that Nevada and New Mexico had both adopted such measures and it took credit for contributing to efforts that resulted in conservation protections for over 7 million acres of land in Colorado and New Mexico. ^{3  7}

Leadership

As of June 2026, Jon Goldin-Dubois worked as president of Western Resource Advocates (WRA), a post he had held since 2014. In April 2026, the organization announced that he would step down at the end of 2026 after a 12-year tenure and that the board would conduct a national search for his replacement. ^{3  8}

Before joining the organization, Goldin-Dubois held leadership roles at Common Cause, a left-of-center advocacy organization, where he worked as executive vice president and chief operating officer; he also co-founded a nonprofit consulting firm and led a Colorado youth-soccer nonprofit. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Colorado Denver. ³

From 2015 through 2018, the organization’s board officers included Ron Binz, who was its treasurer. Binz had chaired the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and, in 2013, was nominated by then-President Barack Obama to chair the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He later withdrew his nomination after being criticized for his record of helping draft Colorado state legislation to reduce coal emissions and expand wind generation. ^{9 10 11 5 12  4}