Summary

Governor Martin O'Malley appointed Commissioner W. Kevin Hughes as Chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission following the announcement that current Chairman Douglas R.M. Nazarian was appointed to the Court of Special Appeals.

On December 28, 2012, Governor Martin O'Malley announced the appointment of Commissioner W. Kevin Hughes as Chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission. Hughes will take the seat of current Chairman Douglas R.M. Nazarian, who, that same day, was appointed to the Court of Special Appeals. Nazarian has served as Chairman since 2008.

This change comes at a busy time for the Commission, which has been focused on reliability issues, the implementation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (or "smart meters") and energy efficiency programs by the state's utilities, and several recently-filed rate case proceedings. The Commission will become even busier if the Maryland legislature passes the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act during the 2013 General Assembly session. The bill would likely require the Commission to oversee the process by which offshore wind developers compete to become qualified to provide offshore wind renewable energy credits.

Mr. Hughes has served as a Commissioner since August 2011. Prior to his appointment, he served as deputy legislative officer to Governor O'Malley and to Governor Parris Glendening, where he focused on energy policy, transportation, K-12 and higher education, and state and local taxation. Earlier in his career he served as principal analyst for the Maryland Department of Legislative Services and as legislative officer under Governor William Donald Schaefer. Commissioner Hughes graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1994, earned a Master's Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in 1985, and received a B.A. degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park.