The University of Colorado Law School and the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship present Tony Clark as our featured speaker for the Energy Innovation Series and 6th Annual Schultz Lecture.
In response to the Western Energy Crisis, the Enron scandal and a historic East Coast blackout, Congress granted broad new authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2005. Armed with this enforcement authority and additional analytical resources, the FERC has in recent years engaged in high profile enforcement efforts intended to bolster both energy availability and confidence in a fair marketplace. FERC Commissioner Tony Clark will provide his thoughts on lessons learned since the passage of Energy Policy Act of 2005, and recent FERC actions that illustrate the evolution of FERC enforcement since the passage of that pioneering Act.
Tony Clark, Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Commissioner Tony Clark is serving his first term on the Commission, having been nominated by President Obama and sworn in on June 15, 2012. A Republican, he is serving out a five-year term that expires June 30, 2016.
Commissioner Clark formerly served as a member of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, most recently as Chairman of the Commission. The office is a statewide elective office, and Commissioner Clark was first elected to the PSC in 2000.
While at the North Dakota Commission, Commissioner Clark held the PSC portfolio on electric generation and transmission and was active in state and regional efforts to develop North Dakota’s vast energy exporting potential and to provide affordable, reliable energy to consumers. In his 12 years at the Commission, he oversaw regulatory proceedings that permitted more than $5.5 billion in new investment in North Dakota through expanded wind, coal and oil and gas infrastructure. At the same time North Dakota maintained its position as one of the lowest cost energy states in the nation, and continued its tradition of excellence in environmental protection.
In November 2010, Commissioner Clark was elected by his peers across the nation to serve a one-year term as President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and led association efforts on matters of importance to the regulatory community and America’s utility consumers. He is a past Chairman of the NARUC Telecommunications Committee and has testified multiple times before Congress on matters related to telecommunications and energy.
Prior to his election to the PSC, Commissioner Clark was North Dakota’s Labor Commissioner, serving in the cabinet of former Gov. Ed Schafer. He is a former state legislator, representing Fargo in the state House of Representatives from 1994-97.
Commissioner Clark is a graduate, with honors, from North Dakota State University and he holds an MPA from the University of North Dakota.
Having attained the rank of Eagle Scout as a youth, Commissioner Clark has maintained his involvement with and support of the Scouting program. He is a past Chairman of the Frontier Trails District of the BSA and a past Cubmaster of Pack 180 in Bismarck.
About The Schultz Lecture:
The Schultz Lectureship Series on oil and gas, energy, and natural resources provides valuable information to policymakers, practitioners, business executives, and the academic community on emerging issues in the field. The lectureship fund was made possible by the generosity of John H. and Cynthia H. Schultz. For further information about the Schultz Lectureship Series, visit: http://www.colorado.edu/law/research/faculty-colloquia-and-distinguished-lecturers#schultz
About the Energy Innovation Series:
Transitioning to a sustainable low-carbon energy system poses one of the great challenges of the 21st century. The Energy Innovation speaker series brings leaders from government, law, finance, industry, and academia to discuss key aspects of this challenge and some of the innovative approaches and solutions being fashioned across a range of sectors. For more information about the Energy Innovation Initiative, visit: http://www.energy-innovation.org/