NARUC appoints new treasurer, chair of nuclear waste disposal subcommittee

Moving swiftly following her appointment to the helm of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), association president Julie Fedorchak this week appointed a new treasurer and chair of the Subcommittee on Nuclear Issues-Waste Disposal.

For the treasurer role, Joshua Byrnes of the Iowa Utilities Board was chosen, while Georgia Public Service Commission Vice-Chair Tim Echols will helm the subcommittee. The appointments put Byrnes on the NARUC Executive Committee and its Board of Directors, which include NARUC’s principal officers.

“On behalf of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors, I want to thank Commissioners Byrnes and Echols for stepping into these leadership positions,” Fedorchak said. “They each bring a wealth of experience and the depth of knowledge needed to advance the goals of NARUC and support our members. We are also very grateful for the outstanding service of Commissioners Brown-Bland and O’Donnell for their years of excellent service to NARUC.”

Byrnes stepped into the role after North Carolina Commissioner ToNola Brown-Bland. He is also a member of the Committee on Critical Infrastructure and the Committee on Electricity.

Echols, a member of the Georgia PSC since 2011, has had a clear trajectory at NARUC, where until this appointment he formerly served as co-chair of the same subcommittee. He succeeded former chair, Maryland Commissioner Anthony O’Donnell, for the role. On top of this, he serves on other NARUC committees, including the Committee on Consumers and the Public Interest, Energy Resources and the Environment, International Relations and the Subcommittee on Clean Coal and Carbon Management.