Title: Regulatory and Legal Counsel
Company: NC Sustainable Energy Association
Location: NC/USA
Education: JD, UNC School of Law, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2018); BA in Environmental Studies, Political Science and Economics, University of Colorado Boulder (2015)
Career History: Regulatory and Legal Counsel, NC Sustainable Energy Association (2025-Present); NC Advisory Board Member, Environmental Defense Fund (2022-Present); Board of Directors, North Carolina Zoo Society, North Carolina Zoo (2021-Present); Southeast Chapter Director, E2 (2020-Present); Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Good Solar (2018-Present); Regulatory Counsel, NC Sustainable Energy Association (2022-2025); Fellow, Center for Climate, Energy, Environment & Economics, UNC School of Law, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2018-2019); Law Clerk, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice (2017); Summer Law Clerk, Environmental Law Institute (2017); Summer Legal Intern, South Carolina Environmental Law Project (2016)
Ethan C. Blumenthal, Regulatory and Legal Counsel at NC Sustainable Energy Association, has been recognized as a Marquis Emerging Leader for their contributions and achievements in the field of law.
Mr. Blumenthal gravitated toward his profession through a lifelong connection to nature, shaped by time spent in the North Carolina mountains as a child. In addition, his family ran a nonprofit retreat center, which inspired him to make a lasting impact through law on climate and environmental issues. Through this, he recognized that law underpins societal change and decided that legal advocacy was the best way to address climate change and advance clean energy solutions.
Upon earning a Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies, political science, and economics from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2015, Mr. Blumenthal pursued a law degree. Before attaining his JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018, he completed a summer legal internship at the South Carolina Environmental Law Project and a law clerkship at both the Environmental Law Institute and the U.S. Department of Justice. As a further testament to his dedication to clean energy law, he served as a fellow with the Center for Climate, Energy, Environment & Economics at the UNC School of Law.
Since 2018, Mr. Blumenthal has excelled as co-founder and chief executive officer at Good Solar, a nonprofit that provides education, advocacy, and consulting services in the renewable energy industry. In addition, he has been active as the Southeast Chapter director of E2—an economy- and environment-based advocacy group—since 2020; an NC advisory board member with the Environmental Defense Fund since 2022; and as the regulatory and legal counsel with the NC Sustainable Energy Association since 2025. Across his myriad roles, he conducts research and writes about upcoming filings, attends and participates in numerous meetings, collaborates with nonprofits and advocacy organizations, and discusses new technology developments in the clean energy sector. He also applies strategies at the Utility Commission and the North Carolina Legislature, addressing member inquiries, providing clarity on issues, and engaging with a diverse range of stakeholders in the clean energy economy.
Mr. Blumenthal’s most notable achievement has been his solo representation of four grassroots organizations, made up of some of the poorest and most justice-concerned counties, from eastern North Carolina, and providing them the opportunity to appear at the Utility Commission. Under his counsel, Duke Energy committed to engaging with impacted communities and ensuring their voices are heard on ongoing developments. The groups he represented include the Robeson County Cooperative for Sustainable Development, the Down East Coal Ash Environmental and Social Justice Coalition, the Environmental Justice Community Action Network, and the RedTailed Hawk Collective, which represents all 14 state-recognized indigenous tribes of North Carolina.
As a testament to his impact, Mr. Blumenthal won a Clean Energy Award and a Diversity and Inclusion Award from the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations in 2020, and was later honored as Sustainable Energy Leader of the Year in 2022. Looking toward the future, he intends to drive the clean energy transition and ensure these solutions are affordable for all, especially in North Carolina, by addressing the critical issue of energy affordability.