Commissioner
Odogwu Obi Linton is a Commissioner for the Maryland Public Service Commission.
The PUF team had a warm welcome at the PSC offices in Baltimore on the upper floors of the William Donald Schaefer building. Maryland punches well above its weight, with an expansive grid modernization portfolio, ambitious electric vehicle and charging programs, utility-scale batteries deployed as grid assets, and more, backed up by a diverse renewable generation portfolio and nuclear power at the Calvert Cliffs plant. All this is made possible by the Commission Staff of some one hundred and fifty, required by statute to be located in Baltimore, so legislative business entails a drive to Annapolis. Five Commissioners lead this accomplished Staff, and they all have a lot to say about what makes Maryland special and unique.
PUF's Lori Burkhart: How did your background lead you to being appointed at the Commission?
Commissioner Linton: I started as an intern at a utility in New Jersey, Public Service Electric and Gas. I got the position because I was initially working there as a meter reader.
My car broke down. You had to have your own car back then in order to work as a meter reader. I lost that job when I lost my vehicle. PSE&G allowed me to come work indoors in their metering and distribution engineering division. I did that part time for most of my time in college.