NARUC
Tony Clark is the Executive Director of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), the organization that represents the nation’s state utility regulators. He was a FERC Commissioner from 2012 to 2016. Tony served as a North Dakota Public Service Commissioner from 2001 to 2012 and was the President of NARUC from 2010-2011. After leaving the public sector in 2016, he was engaged in consulting and served on the board of a publicly traded company. He holds undergraduate degrees from North Dakota State University and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Dakota.
Paul Kjellander is PUF Senior Advisor, former NARUC and Idaho Commission President.
NARUC’s Committee on International Relations has provided help and best practices for almost thirty years as energy market development needs grew overseas. The Committee manages NARUC’s outreach activities across the globe, including partnerships with numerous countries.
The history of the Committee is relatively short compared to that of NARUC, which has been operating since 1889. The Committee was shaped in great part by Erin Hammel, the first person hired in 1999 for work on NARUC’s International Programs.
PUF’s Paul Kjellander talked with Hammel about the founding of NARUC’s Committee on International Relations, how the work was shaped, and its efforts today around the world. There is more from Committee on International Relations Chair and Nevada Commissioner Tammy Cordova along with NARUC Executive Director Tony Clark, who both have played a big role in ensuring America’s trusted regulatory methods translate into best practices around the world.
PUF’s Paul Kjellander: When you became NARUC’s executive director, one of the challenges involved funding NARUC’s International Programs. Describe the situation.
Tony Clark: It happened quickly after I took over as Executive Director in January 2025. It was shortly after President Trump’s inauguration that we started hearing that the U.S. Agency for International Development funding was going to be looked at and potentially zeroed out.