Tommy Jones, Ph.D., serves the Office of Indian Energy as a Tribal Affairs Specialist and supports much of the Office’s and DOE’s engagement with Tribes.
Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs
June 3, 2026
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Tommy Jones, Ph.D., serves the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (IE) as a Tribal Affairs Specialist. Tommy is the staff lead on the Indian Country Energy and Infrastructure Working Group (ICEIWG), which held its second meeting of the year in Oklahoma City in May. Tommy is also the IE staff lead for the DOE Tribal Engagement Steering Committee (TESC) and the Executive Secretariat, while supporting much of the Office’s and DOE’s engagement with Tribes.
Tommy is motivated and inspired by working with Tribes. “Supporting Tribes has always been my focus,” he said. “This job gives me the opportunity to work with Tribes to overcome challenges to energy access, economic development, and community wellbeing. Working at IE has allowed me to impact people’s daily lives in Tribal communities.”
Financing and funding are often a barrier to energy solutions, as well as staff capacity within Tribal governments, Tommy said. “When considering larger scale energy projects, Tribes must not only consider these internal factors but also consider external factors such as access to transmission lines, securing power purchase agreements or other financing mechanisms, and both federal and state permitting, just to name a few.”
Despite the barriers, Tommy believes there are many opportunities for Tribal energy development. “Participation in the broader energy market can take many forms,” he stressed. “From energy generation to transmission upgrades to supply chain work, there are many ramps for Tribes to overcome their community energy challenges and take advantage of the economic development that often comes with energy projects. By not limiting their scope of participation and remaining open to the diverse aspects of energy development, Tribes will be exposed to the greatest opportunities.”
Tommy is from Jones, Oklahoma and is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Naknek Native Village, and a Native shareholder of Bristol Bay Native Corporation of Alaska. Tommy has bachelor’s degrees in both biology and Spanish from Oklahoma City University, a master's degree in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science from University of Hawaii at Hilo, and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona. He has worked for IE since 2014, first as a Sandia National Laboratories intern.