Commissioner Emile C. Thompson, District of Columbia Public Service Commission

Commissioner Emile C. Thompson, District of Columbia Public Service Commission

Emile C. Thompson was appointed to the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia by Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2021. Prior to the Commission, Commissioner Thompson was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. As an AUSA, he prosecuted homicides and served as a supervising Deputy Chief in the Misdemeanor Section. …

Chairman Willie L. Phillips, District of Columbia Public Service Commission

Speaker: Chairman Willie L. Phillips, District of Columbia Public Service Commission

Willie L. Phillips was appointed to the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (PSC) by Mayor Vincent Gray in 2014 and reappointed by Mayor Bowser to serve as Chairman in 2018. Chairman Phillips is an experienced regulatory attorney combining over a decade of legal expertise in private practice and as in-house counsel. He has an extensive background in …

Speaker: Jeff Marootian, Special Assistant to the President for Climate and Science, The White House

Jeff Marootian is the Special Assistant to President Biden for Climate and Science Personnel. He was a member of the Biden-Harris Transition Team and previously served in the Obama-Biden Administration as the Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief Sustainability Officer at the United States Department of Transportation. Jeff served as the Director of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in …

Speaker: Dr. Cecilia Martinez, Senior Director for Environmental Justice, Council on Environmental Quality, The White House

Dr. Cecilia Martinez is the Senior Director for Environmental Justice (EJ) at the White House Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ). In this role, she facilitates the coordination of the whole-of-government EJ agenda of the Biden administration. Previously, she was the Executive Director of the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy, an organization that she co-founded to ensure that communities and …

Speaker: The Hon. Kelly Speakes-Backman, Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

Kelly Speakes-Backman is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and Acting Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy. In her role, Speakes-Backman leads and directs the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, focused on creating and sustaining American leadership in the transition to a global clean energy economy. She …

Speaker: Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D–Ward 5)

Kenyan R. McDuffie, Councilmember for Ward 5, was first elected to the Council of the District of Columbia in a 2012 special election, and re-elected to full four-year terms in 2014 and again in 2018. Since 2013 he has served as the Chairman Pro Tempore of the Council. Since 2017, Kenyan has served as the Chairperson of the Committee on …

Moderator: The Hon. Paul Kjellander, President, NARUC and Idaho PUC

Commissioner Paul Kjellander serves as president of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, having been appointed to his current six-year term in 2017 by former Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter. It is Commissioner Kjellander’s second term in his second stint on the Commission, having previously served from January 1999 until October 2007. Gov. Otter reappointed Kjellander in April 2011, following his service …

Speaker: The Hon. Gladys Brown Dutrieuille, Chairman, Pennsylvania PUC

Gladys Brown Dutrieuille is now serving her second term as a Commissioner for the Public Utility Commission, which she has guided as Chairman since 2015. Chairman Dutrieuille has emphasized a fair and balanced approach to utility and consumer issues, which are deeply interrelated. She has underscored the essential role that public utilities play in bringing services to the most vulnerable …