The elected officers of PNWER include a President, two First Vice Presidents (one from the U.S. and one from Canada) and two second Vice Presidents (one from each country). Officers must be elected legislators or an elected governor or premier from participating jurisdictions at the time of their election and remain in office for their tenure as a PNWER Officer. A copy of the PNWER Officer Handbook discussing PNWER’s organizational structure and delegate responsibilities can be found here.

The Delegate Council consists of four legislators (plus alternates) from each jurisdiction, as well as the governors / premiers (or a designated representative) from each of the states, provinces, and territories. It is expected that, in the states, each legislative caucus selects one of the four delegates and also may select alternates. In the provinces and territories, the government is encouraged to appoint delegates from both the government and opposition. The delegates from each jurisdiction are encouraged to hold meetings to discuss priority issues for the jurisdiction, as well as provide reports to their leadership on PNWER action items. The appointed delegates from each jurisdiction also should meet annually to select a lead delegate to serve on the PNWER executive committee. The lead delegate may also serve on the PNWER Foundation Board of Directors.

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The Delegate Council is responsible for coordinating the agendas from the public sectors of each jurisdiction, promoting participation in each working group, working with sponsors and promoting sponsorship, as well as ensuring that the PNWER organization continues to adhere to its original mission and regulations as outlined in PNWER’s rules and regulations.

Every PNWER private sector member sits on the PSC; this includes business, the non-elective public sector, NGOs, local governments, and other non-profit organizations. Each jurisdiction selects one of their private sector members to serve as the chair of their private sector council, and the chair will then sit on the Executive Committee ex-officio. Each jurisdiction may develop its own private sector council to support the work of PNWER in their jurisdiction. In addition, from among the chairs of each jurisdiction, one is selected of the PSC from Canada and one from the U.S. to serve as PSC Co-Chairs.



The purpose of the PSC is to provide a forum for the private sector to meet and discuss issues of concern and communicate these through the working groups and the Private Sector Council to the PNWER Executive Committee. Furthermore, each state, province, territory delegation is encouraged to hold meetings as needed in their own jurisdiction and promote business leadership within all aspects of PNWER.

PNWER was created by statute in 1991 by the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington and the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.  The Yukon Territory was added in 1999, Saskatchewan was added in 2008 and the Northwest Territories was added in 2009. Below are several of the statutes and motions to create PNWER.