The proposal establishing PNWER passed with 701 out of 703 sitting legislators voting in its favor following a three-year process initiated by the Pacific NorthWest Legislative Leadership Forum (PNLLF) in 1988. Six working groups were established, including environmental technology, tourism, recycling, value-added timber, workforce training, and telecommunications; some of these merged into or were replaced in later years by new areas of concentration. Critical in establishing the initiative to create the PNWER were Washington State Senator Alan Bluechel and Deputy Premier and Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs for Alberta Jim Horsman. Bluechel served as the organization's first president. Another President was Mel Knight, a former Energy Minister of Alberta.