Vermont PSD deputy Hofmann named new executive director of NECPUC

Sarah Hofmann of East Montpelier, VT, currently the Deputy Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service, has been chosen to become the new Executive Director of the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners (NECPUC), effective January 1, according to Thomas L. Welch, President of the organization and Chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission. 

Hofmann will succeed William M. Nugent of Yarmouth, ME, who has served in the position since 2004.  

A graduate of the University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly the Franklin Pierce Law Center) and Rollins College, Hofmann has served the Vermont Department in a series of successively senior positions.  After 11 years as Special Counsel, representing the Department before the Vermont Public Service Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and in appeals to the Vermont Supreme Court, Hofmann served 6 years as Director of Public Advocacy, Consumer Affairs and Public Information.  She was named Deputy Commissioner in April 2011. 

“We are delighted that, through NECPUC, Ms. Hofmann will help the New England states’ commissions even better advance the interests of the region’s consumers and its economy,” said Welch.  “Well functioning utilities serve all New England consumers as major foundations of the region’s quality of life and its economy.” 

Hofmann also serves the regulatory community nationally.  She is currently the chairperson of the Staff Subcommittee on Nuclear Waste Issues of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and a member of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition.  Hofmann participated in the Vermont Leadership Institute in 2007.  She is a former chairwoman of the Vermont Association of Mental Health Board of Directors and the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.   

Commissioner Elizabeth Miller of the Vermont Public Service Department stated, “Sarah has been a thought leader in Vermont regarding utility regulation.   Although we will miss her at the Department, we are very glad and proud that she will be sharing her expertise with our entire region as NECPUC executive director.”  

Founded prior to 1947, NECPUC aids New England’s 20 state utilities commissioners in advancing the public’s interest in regional and Federal forums in electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, and water regulation.  The organization annually convenes a forum at which commissioners engage all parties—Federal officials, academics, public interest, industry, and others—in examinations of issues current in utilities regulation.  

Nugent, a former commissioner (in Maine and Michigan) and President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), is retiring. 

Source: NECPUC 9.19.2012