Contact: Regina Davis, 202-898-9382, rdavis@naruc.org

NARUC President Brandon Presley Appoints North Carolina Commissioner Brown-Bland and Arkansas Commissioner O’Guinn to Executive Committee

WASHINGTON (November 22, 2019) — National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President Brandon Presley of Mississippi has made two new appointments to the Executive Committee. Arkansas Commissioner Kimberly A. O’Guinn was tapped to sit on the committee, along with North Carolina Commissioner ToNola Brown-Bland, who will serve as treasurer.

“Commissioners O’Guinn and Brown-Bland each possess the experience and competency needed for these vital positions that lead the Association,” said Presley. “Moreover, they are committed to working to help NARUC achieve the goals necessary to better serve our members and the communities that rely on the decisions of each commission.

“I also want to thank Commissioner David Ziegner of Indiana for his solid leadership as treasurer for the past several years. David is a model Commissioner for all of us and a long-time leader at both NARUC and in his home state.”

O’Guinn has served on the Arkansas PSC since November 2016, when she was appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson. She served previously as the director of communications for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and was also an engineer in the ADEQ’s Office of Air Quality for 16 years. She serves on NARUC’s Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment, the Washington Action Program and the Committee on International Relations. O’Guinn is also the president of Southwest Power Pool’s Regional State Committee, co-chair of the National Utilities Diversity Council, serves on the Financial Research Institute Board and on the Center for Public Utilities Advisory Council.

She received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and was an Engineering Fellowship Recipient with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's NASA Space Grant Consortium/NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.

“I am honored to have been tapped by President Presley for this important leadership role,” said O’Guinn. “I look forward to working with my NARUC colleagues to maintain our momentum, identify and address challenges and support results-oriented activities.”

Commissioner Brown-Bland was appointed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by Governor Beverly Eaves Perdue in 2009 and was reappointed in 2017 by Governor Roy Cooper. Prior to her appointment, she served as an attorney in the Commission’s Legal Division and as Associate General Counsel to the City of Greensboro, North Carolina.  Since joining the Commission, she served a term as president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. In addition, she is a member of NARUC’s Critical Infrastructure Committee and Gas Committee. She also currently serves as the chair of the Board of Directors of the National Regulatory Research Institute, the vice chair of the National Council on Electricity Policy and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Center for Public Utilities at New Mexico State University.

She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received her Juris Doctorate from Duke University School of Law.

“It is my privilege to serve as the treasurer, to ensure both the continued sound financial stability of the Association and a prudent course of investment in programs and activities supportive of the regulatory mission. I am excited for the opportunity to serve on the Executive Committee and appreciate President Presley’s confidence in my ability to make a meaningful contribution to the Association,” said Brown-Bland.

The Executive Committee includes NARUC's principal officers—the president, first vice president, second vice president, treasurer and two appointed members. They are responsible for the overall direction of the organization, provide day-to-day policy guidance to the executive director within the framework of policies adopted by the Board and recommend policy revisions to the board.

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About NARUC

NARUC is a non-profit organization founded in 1889 whose members include the governmental agencies that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. NARUC's member agencies regulate telecommunications, energy, and water utilities. NARUC represents the interests of State public utility commissions before the three branches of the Federal government.