Place named PUC’s new vice chairman
Greene County resident Andrew Place, who joined Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission two months ago, was named vice chairman of the regulatory board Thursday.
According to a news release from PUC, Place’s selection, which becomes effective Jan. 1, was announced by Chairman Gladys M. Brown.
He will replace John F. Coleman Jr., who served as vice chairman since 2011 and will remain as a commissioner with a term expiring April 1, 2017.
Place was nominated as a commissioner by Gov. Tom Wolf May 15 and confirmed unanimously by the Senate Sept. 30. His five-year term on the five-person board expires in 2020.
A Greene County sheep farmer in Washington Township, Place was EQT Corp.’s corporate director of energy and environmental policy, where he focused on the economic, social and environmental balance inherent in energy policy choices. He also worked to establish Center for Sustainable Shale Development and served roles of deputy secretary at Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, was a research fellow at Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Engineering and Public Policy and taught at CMU as an adjunct professor.
In announcing Place’s additional role at the commission, Brown said, “I know he is up to the challenge.”
“I certainly, absolutely appreciate the privilege and honor of serving, and I look forward to the challenges,” Place said.