NARUC appoints members to its Natural Gas Partnership
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) appointed members to its Natural Gas Partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Natural Gas Partnership (NGP) was created in July to facilitate the exchange of information on emerging regulatory and technological solutions to advance the performance of the nation’s natural gas infrastructure.
“The Department of Energy and NARUC have partnered for years to strengthen the collaboration between state energy regulators and the federal government,” Shawn Bennett, the Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Natural Gas, said. “The Natural Gas Partnership will continue that critical relationship and provide important opportunities for knowledge sharing and engagement.”
Commissioner Diane X. Burman of the New York State Public Service Commission chairs the NGP. She also chaired the NARUC-DOE Natural Gas Infrastructure Modernization Partnership (NGIMP), a collaboration among state regulators, federal agencies and other stakeholders to discuss natural gas pipeline leak detection. The NGIMP was active from 2016 until June 2020 and produced resources on natural gas infrastructure replacement programs, methane emissions detection technologies, renewable natural gas, and more.
“Building on the success of the NGIMP, the new Natural Gas Partnership will continue to enable information sharing on identifying emerging technologies and examining critical issues associated with natural gas, including cybersecurity investments, artificial intelligence, hydrogen production and natural gas infrastructure, liquefied natural gas and more,” Burman said. “We have an excellent group of NARUC members representing NARUC’s geographic regions, substantive expertise drawing from key NARUC committees and racial, gender, and socioeconomic diversity.”
Other NARUC members appointed to the NGP include Jay Balasbas, Washington; Julie Brown, Florida; Maida Coleman, Missouri; Gladys Brown Dutrieuille, Pennsylvania; Julie Fedorchak, North Dakota; D. Ethan Kimbrel, Illinois; Thad LeVar, Utah; Odogwu Obi Linton, Maryland; Talina Mathews, Kentucky; Kim O’Guinn, Arkansas; Brandon Presley, Mississippi; Tricia Pridemore, Georgia; Katie Sieben, Minnesota; and Dianne Solomon, New Jersey. Further, Andreas Thanos, chair of the NARUC Staff Subcommittee on Gas, will also join the partnership.
