Governor Mark Gordon announced on Wednesday that he has accepted the resignation of Wyoming Public Service Commission Chairman, Kara Fornstrom. Her last day will be January 15, 2021.

Fornstrom has served on the commission for the past seven years. She was first appointed to her position by former Governor Matt Mead in March 2013 and was reappointed by Governor Gordon in 2019.

Duties of the Public Service Commission (PSC) include: ensuring that monopoly utilities in Wyoming, such as electricity, natural gas, and telephone provide safe and reliable service to customers at fair and reasonable rates. Additionally, the PSC also regulates some commercial water utilities and intrastate pipelines.

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Fornstrom received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Wyoming and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law. She began her legal career at the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, Water Division and began work on the Nebraska v. Wyoming litigation over the North Platte River. In August of 2000, she was a founding partner of Hageman & Brighton, where her practice focused entirely and exclusively on water issues. In August of 2015, she was a member of the NARUC delegation to China for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Regulatory Policy Technology Mission. She also became a member of the CCUS Policy, Research and Implementation Collaboration and Exchange to the United Kingdom in 2019.

“I want to thank Kara for her dedication to Wyoming and her diligence and commitment to the ratepayers of the state,” Governor Gordon said. “During her tenure she addressed a number of challenging issues and helped to set an agenda to provide reliable, consistent, affordable electricity to Wyoming consumers, while also recognizing our ability to do all of that and help reduce C02 emissions with carbon capture.”

"My nearly eight years at the Commission are truly the highlight of my professional career,’ Fornstrom said. “I am grateful to Governor Gordon for his confidence as I served as Chairman for the past two years. I have been blessed during my time at the Commission to work with an incredibly dedicated team of public servants. They, and all the professionals associated with the Commission, have taught me so much and I will miss interacting with them on a daily basis. My life is richer because of my time at the Commission and I'll forever be grateful for the opportunity to serve the state I love.”

Governor Gordon is expected to announce a replacement in the near future to assume the rest of Fornstrom’s term, which expires in 2025.

 

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