Bill Dickens is a native of Tarboro, NC and grew up in Washington, DC.  He moved to Tacoma, WA in 2008 to assume the duties as a senior energy economist for Tacoma Power.  His work focused on hydro-electric economics, natural gas market fundamentals, smart grid technologies, and alternative energy supply resources. He retired from Tacoma Power on December 1, 2018. He assumed the duties of President and CEO for his economic management consulting firm, BJNJ, in June 2019.

Prior to working for Tacoma Public Utilities, he was a staff economist for the Florida Public Service Commission (1998-2008) and a Member of the Florida Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors (2000-2007).  He has taught economics at Hampton University, Bowie State University and Florida A&M University and worked as an economist for numerous Federal agencies. He has testified as an expert economic witness on regulation topics and written economic articles which have appeared in books, peer-reviewed journals, and several Tacoma and Florida newspapers as letters to the editor and op-ed columns.  His latest research on energy economics was published in the book Energy Trading and Risk Management   by Iris Marie Mack, Chapter 10 (NY: Wiley & Sons, November 2014).  He is currently writing a book on behavioral economics called – Economics for the ‘Hood: What Matters?

Bill’s undergraduate education was completed at Northwestern University (Economic Honors Program 1978) in Evanston, Illinois, and the University of the District of Columbia (1979) where he concentrated in economics, mathematics, and history.  His graduate education in economics (Masters and Ph.D. studies) (1979-1986) were completed at American University in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Dickens is a former WEB Dubois Fellow @ Harvard University (1987) and past HBCU Faculty Fellow at the Pentagon (1987-1998).  He is a member of the American Economic Association, National Economic Association, and the American Association of Blacks in Energy. He is a 2010 graduate of Leadership Tacoma and has volunteered his time as a Board Member for many non-profit boards. Currently he serves as Chair of the Economic Development Committee of the Black Collective of Tacoma, Washington and is a Board Member for the Tacoma/Pierce County Economic Development Board.  In addition, he is a member of Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church in Tacoma, Washington.  He resides in University Place, Washington with his spouse Jennie Scipio-Dickens. They have two adult children Nia (University of Miami, Miami, Florida) and Joshua who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.