Gov.-elect Jared Polis has named Will Toor, a former Boulder mayor and city council member and a former Boulder County commissioner, to be the next executive director of the Colorado Energy Office.
Toor is the transportation program director for the Boulder-based Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, which promotes energy-efficiency and clean-transportation programs and policies in Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
He could not be reached for comment on Friday ( but in a Facebook post said he is excited about joining the governor’s cabinet.
“Governor Polis has set bold goals to transition to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2040, to electrify our transportation system, and to act on climate change. I am honored to be invited to play a role in achieving these goals,” Toor wrote.
He will head a state agency whose mission, according to its website, is “to deliver cost-effective energy services and advance innovative energy solutions for the benefit of all Coloradans.”
Toor’s appointment was one of a number of cabinet-level choices announced by Polis’ transition staff in a Friday news release.
Toor, a Democrat, was a Boulder County commissioner from 2005 through 2012.
According to Toor’s biography on the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project’s website, he spearheaded the effort to create and adopt a countywide Sustainable Energy Plan, the BuildSmart green building code, the EnergySmart program and the ClimateSmart loan program.
Toor served as Boulder’s mayor from 1998 to 2004 and is a onetime chairman of the Denver Regional Council of Governments.
He has served on Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, the Governor’s Climate Action Panel and the Regional Air Quality Council, as well as a task force Gov. John Hickenlooper formed to suggest changes to state oil and gas regulations.
Toor was director of he University of Colorado Environmental Center from 1992 to 2004.
Board of County Commissioners chairwoman Cindy Domenico said Toor’s appointment is “pretty exciting news” for the county and the state.
“I think they’ve picked an excellent person with a tremendous understanding of the needs of the state and an excellent skills set,” Domenico said.
John Fryar: 303-684-5211, jfryar@times-call.com or twitter.com/jfryartc
