Josiah Cox Joins FRI Advisory Board

July 21, 2023 FRI is pleased to announce that Josiah Cox, President and Founder for Central States Water Resources, has joined FRI’s Advisory Board. An experienced and deeply passionate water utility industry executive, early in his career, Josiah spent several years leading wildlife habitat studies and water and wastewater civil engineering land development efforts. In 2010, he developed a business strategy to acquire and recapitalize failing water and wastewater systems as investor-owned utility companies. Ultimately, this became Central States Water Resources which now operates in 11 states and is the 10th largest investor-owned utility in the U.S. He is…

California Commissioner John Reynolds Joins FRI Advisory Board

July 5, 2023 FRI is pleased to welcome Commissioner John Reynolds of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to the FRI Advisory Board. Commissioner Reynolds was appointed to the CPUC by Governor Gavin Newsom on Dec. 23, 2021, and reappointed on Dec. 22, 2022. Commissioner Reynolds had previously served as Managing Counsel at Cruise LLC since 2019. Prior to that, he held multiple positions at the CPUC, including Interim Chief of Staff to Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma in 2018, Advisor to former Commissioner Carla J. Peterman from 2015 to 2018, and Public Utilities Counsel from 2013 to 2015. He was Associate…

DC Commission, Chair Thompson Join FRI Advisory Board

June 29, 2023 FRI is pleased to welcome the District of Columbia Public Service Commission and Chairman Emile C. Thompson to the FRI Advisory Board. The DC PSC regulates the monopoly electric distribution, natural gas, and telecom utilities serving the District’s approximately 700 thousand residents. The District of Columbia joins 16 state public utility commissions represented on FRI’s Advisory Board. Chairman Thompson was first appointed to the DC PSC by Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2021 and re-appointed as Interim Chairman on December 1, 2021. He was confirmed as Chairman on June 7, 2022. He is an active member of…

Illinois Commissioner Ann McCabe Joins FRI Advisory Board

July 6, 2022 FRI is pleased to welcome Commissioner Ann McCabe of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to the FRI Advisory Board. Commissioner McCabe was appointed to a five-year term at the ICC starting February 1, 2022. She previously served on the Commission from March 2012 to January 2017. Prior to returning to the ICC, for two years Ann led the US team at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), a non-profit that advises state utility regulators, staff and stakeholders. She has over 25 years of energy and environmental policy and regulatory experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors. In…

Shelby Linton-Keddie Joins FRI Advisory Board

June 22, 2022 FRI is pleased to announce that Ms. Shelby Linton-Keddie, Managing Director of State Regulatory Affairs for the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), has joined FRI’s Advisory Board. Linton-Keddie oversees EEI’s national engagement and strategy on state regulatory issues before public utility commissions and state legislatures.  Prior to joining EEI, she came from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where she held various positions including an Assistant Small Business Advocate, Manager, State Regulatory Strategy and Sr. Legal Counsel for Duquesne Light Company, Counsel to Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner Pamela Witmer, Associate at the law firm of…

Karen Stachowski Joins FRI Advisory Board

April 12, 2022 FRI is pleased to welcome our newest Advisory Board member, Karen H. Stachowski, Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection & Advocate Unit of the Financial Division in the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General. In this role, she focuses on proceedings before the Tennessee Public Utility Commission (TPUC), which is responsible for regulating Tennessee’s investor-owned utility companies.  The Consumer Advocate seeks to enforce laws applicable to public utilities, to remove barriers to competition in public utilities markets, and to seek a healthy balance between regulation, competition, and the public interest.  It participates in regulatory proceedings…

Rich Svindland Joins FRI Advisory Board

February 16, 2022 FRI is pleased to welcome Mr. Rich Svindland, President of Missouri American Water, to the FRI Advisory Board. Mr. Svindland was named president of Missouri American Water in 2021. He is a professional engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the water and wastewater industry. He leads a team that is responsible for providing safe, clean, and reliable water and/or wastewater service to approximately one in four Missourians in 200 communities throughout the state. Before coming to Missouri, Svindland served as president of California American Water and Hawaii American Water for five years. He has…

FRI Welcomes New Advisory Board Members

September 10, 2021 We are happy to announce our newest Advisory Board members: Christina Baker, Chairman Kent Chandler, Kristy Hartman, Commissioner Gabriella Passidomo, Kari Gehrke and Matt Rice. Longer bios for these distinguished individuals (and all of our Advisory Board members) are available on the FRI Members page. Christina Lynn Baker, P.E., J.D., is a Senior Assistant Attorney General with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office working on public utility and environmental issues. She serves as lead attorney of the Consumer Utilities Rate Advocacy Division and routinely provides expert testimony regarding positions taken by the Attorney General to protect Arkansas…

Illinois Commissioner Maria S. Bocanegra Joins FRI Advisory Board

April 1, 2021 — We are pleased to welcome Commissioner Maria S. Bocanegra from the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to the FRI Advisory Board. Commissioner Bocanegra replaces Commissioner Emeritus Sadzi Oliva as the ICC’s representative on the FRI Board. Commissioner Bocanegra was appointed to the Illinois Commerce Commission on April 8, 2019 to a four-year term and confirmed by the Illinois Senate on May 31, 2019. Commissioner Bocanegra is an accomplished, well-respected attorney with prior public service in both Democratic and Republican administrations. She most recently served as Arbitrator at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. There, she…

Nebraska Commission Chair Dan Watermeier Joins FRI Advisory Board

March 12, 2021 — We are pleased to welcome Dan Watermeier, Chair of the Nebraska Public Service Commission, to the FRI Advisory Board. Mr. Watermeier was elected for a six-year term on the Commission in November 2018 representing Nebraska’s District 1, comprised of eight counties in Southeastern Nebraska. Prior to joining the Commission, he served as a state senator in the Nebraska Unicameral from 2012-2018. A farmer by trade, Commissioner Watermeier received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. He is member of, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)…