Energy industry attorney Joshua Epel has been nominated as chair of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) after being selected by Gov. John Hickenlooper earlier in April to replace Ronald Binz, whose term expired earlier in the year. The nomination is awaiting confirmation by the Colorado legislature, whose current session ends in mid-May. Epel is currently the assistant general counsel at DCP Midstream LLC, a Denver-based gatherer/processor of natural gas and a 50-50 venture between Spectra Energy and ConocoPhillips. Epel is also the chairman of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission, a position he will leave if he is confirmed to head the PUC. Hickenlooper said Epel brings a “broad range of experience in energy and environmental policy.” If confirmed, Epel will replace Binz, who was appointed in January 2007 and served past the expiration of this four-year tern, resigning April 8.

Philip Jones was reconfirmed by the Washington state Senate to a second six-year term on the state Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC). He will serve until Jan. 1, 2017 after being appointed for a second time by Gov. Chris Gregoire to the three-member regulatory panel. Jones is a former senior legislative assistant to former Washington U.S. Sen. Daniel Evans. Jones supported Evans on energy policy issues and worked on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during his tenure in Washington, DC. He is active in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), serving on it board of directors and its executive committee as second vice president. Jones is a 1977 graduate of Harvard.

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