WASHINGTON—National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President David Coen of Vermont appointed Commissioner David Boyd, Chairman of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, to lead the Association’s nuclear-waste advocacy committee.

In leading NARUC’s Subcommittee on Nuclear Issues—Waste Disposal, Commissioner Boyd is replacing former Chairman David Wright of South Carolina, whose term expired. Commissioner Greg White of Michigan was tapped to be the panel’s Vice Chair.

The Subcommittee on Nuclear Issues—Waste Disposal is an affiliate of NARUC’s Committee on Electricity. The group focuses on issues related to the disposal and long-term storage of commercial spent-nuclear fuel. The Subcommittee organizes panel discussions at NARUC’s three annual meetings and oversees the Association’s advocacy in Washington and elsewhere.

“I want to thank Commissioner Boyd for stepping up to serve NARUC at this critical time,” President Coen said. “As the nation’s nuclear-waste policy remains in limbo, Commissioner Boyd’s chairmanship of this Subcommittee provides ratepayers an important voice. I also want to acknowledge Commissioner Wright’s stalwart leadership and years of service as chair of the subcommittee. Customers of nuclear generation are better off because of his guidance.”

“The nation’s nuclear-waste policy has suffered from bureaucratic and political delays for too long,” Chairman Boyd said. “All the while, our ratepayers continue to faithfully pay the tab. Under my leadership, this Subcommittee will continue its real-life analysis of the situation and how it is impacting the consumers we serve.”

Chairman Boyd was named to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in the summer of 2007, and was appointed chair in 2008. He currently serves on the NARUC Electricity Committee, and the Subcommittees on Clean Coal and Carbon Sequestration and Education and Research. Prior to joining the agency, Chairman Boyd served as a Professor of Chemistry at the University of St. Thomas, where he led the school’s Chemistry Department as Department Chair from 2001 until his appointment to the PUC.

Vice Chair White was appointed to the Michigan PSC in December 2009. Prior to his appointment, Commissioner White served as the Legislative Liaison for the Michigan Public Service Commission and as Liaison for the MPSC to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, & Economic Growth (DELEG). In this dual role, he represented the MPSC before the Michigan Legislature and the U.S. Congress on matters related primarily to energy, utilities, telecommunications, and the motor carrier industries, and also worked between the Executive Office of DELEG and its Bureau of Energy Systems and the MPSC on matters related to energy and energy utilities.

“I want to thank Commissioner White for serving his colleagues in a leadership position at this critical time,” President Coen said. “He has been a heavy hitter for us on nuclear-waste issues for some time and I am grateful that he agreed to accept this position.”