Former senator Downing tapped to lead MassCEC

Former Sen. Ben Downing, who had an influential hand in state energy policy during his decade representing the Berkshires, has been appointed the new leader of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the organization announced Friday.

From 2007 until 2017, Downing served in the Senate as a Democrat from Pittsfield, eventually chairing the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee as it crafted the 2016 law that got the state into the offshore wind space. Saying he had pledged to serve no more than five terms in the Senate, Downing did not seek reelection in 2016 and instead went to work as vice president of new market development for community solar-focused Nexamp. He also ran for governor in 2022 as an East Boston Democrat.

MassCEC’s announcement said Downing is working now as chief growth officer at The Engine, a nonprofit incubator and accelerator built by MIT to support climate tech, biotech, and advanced infrastructure startups. He takes over at MassCEC in April. 

“Massachusetts is home to some of the world’s leading climatetech companies, and many of their successes can be attributed to Ben Downing’s visionary leadership in the Legislature and the support he has spearheaded for startups at The Engine,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “Our administration is deeply committed to growing our innovation economy. With strong support authorized under the Mass Leads Act, Ben will steer our climatetech industry and over 162,000 climatetech workers to its next chapter.”

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper, who chairs the MassCEC board that voted to appoint Downing, said the former senator “impressed me with a bold vision with tangible next steps for MassCEC,” which has been under interim leadership since Emily Reichert left the CEO job in November.

Jennifer Le Blond, who has served as interim CEO since November, will return to her role leading the Emerging Climatetech Team at MassCEC when Downing starts.

In a statement of his own, Downing said his career has shown him that “Massachusetts can be the place where the solutions to climate change are invented, built, and deployed” and used the “A” word that in 2026 is inextricably linked to energy policy.

“Doing so affordably requires activating all of the state’s resources,” he said. “I’m excited to help MassCEC do just that with our partners in the Healey Administration, the Legislature, the clean energy and climatetech sectors and more.”

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