Board of Water and Light to Have New Community Representative

Next Tuesday (January 20), the East Lansing City Council will be acting on my recommended appointment to the Board of Water and Light’s Board of Commissioners. It is my recommendation that East Lansing appoint Robert B. Nelson to serve as our community’s representative for a four year term commencing July 1, 2015.

In the wake of last winter’s ice storm, and the prolonged power outage that followed, both the independent Community Review Team and the Michigan Public Service Commission recommended the recruitment of new BWL board members with experience related to utility regulation and management. I am putting forward Mr. Nelson’s name with an eye toward those recommendations.

Mr. Nelson is one of Michigan’s foremost authorities on electric utility regulation. His prior experience in this field includes the following:

-Michigan Public Service Commission – Commissioner (1999-2005)

-Michigan Electric and Gas Association – President (1987-1999)

-Michigan Public Service Commission – Director of Office of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs (1979-1987)

-Michigan Public Service Commission – Dep. and Asst. Director of Office of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs (1976-1979)

-National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioner’s Consumer Affairs Committee – Member (1999-2005)

-Center for Public Utilities at New Mexico State University – Advisory Council (2004-2005)

-Administrative Law Section, State Bar of Michigan – Chairman (1998-1999)

-East Lansing Cable and Telecommunications Commission – Chairman (1997-1998)

-Ingham County Energy Commission – Co-Chairman (1991-1992)

-Accio Energy - Technical Advisory Board (2008-present)

-Energy Law and Regulation, Michigan State University College of Law - Adjunct Professor (2007-2010)

-Michigan State University Institute for Public Utilities – Lecturer (2007-2014)

I continue to believe that customer communities, like East Lansing, deserve voting seats on the BWL’s Board. However, the charter amendment approved by the voters of Lansing, which provides for non-voting representation, is a step in the right direction. By appointing an individual of Mr. Nelson’s considerable experience and superb qualifications, our community will be able to maximize the impact of our nonvoting seat on the Board. Both the City of East Lansing and the Lansing Board of Water and Light will be well served by Mr. Nelson’s appointment.

Find out more from this article, published in the Lansing State Journal on January 14, 2015.

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