Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Catherine Reheis-Boyd

77. Catherine Reheis-Boyd

Catherine Reheis-Boyd has to have one of the most difficult gigs in California. As the president and CEO of Western States Petroleum Association, aka WSPA (“whis-puh”), Reheis-Boyd’s job essentially is keeping oil refineries and their employees working. So, she spends her time fighting California’s efforts to scale back the oil industry, which isn’t exactly easy in a deep blue state. Case in point, the oil industry took one hard on the chin, backing a possible ballot measure to overturn a law imposing new restrictions on oil and gas wells near homes and schools. That effort failed, but maybe pulling out before spending even more money to get it before voters in November shows her savvy and influence. Reheis-Boyd oversees legislative and regulatory issues dealing with transportation fuels policy, air and water quality, climate change, renewable fuels, alternative energy issues and crude oil and natural gas production. In other words, every issue facing the oil industry. But she’s more than up to the task, having worked in the sector for nearly four decades.

Updated Aug. 7, 2024