BOSTON (SHNS) – While her energy affordability legislation remains on ice in the Legislature, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration on Tuesday reshaped the lineup of Department of Public Utilities regulators and gave the new trio clear marching orders: bring more energy into Massachusetts and make it more affordable.
It is the second time in about two and a half years that the Healey administration has tapped two new commissioners and said the shift comes with a renewed focus for the department involved in energy matters, rail safety and more. DPU Chairman James Van Nostrand, whose appointment the Healey administration celebrated in the spring of 2023, is one of the commissioners departing.
When all the moving parts come to rest this fall, Van Nostrand will be replaced by Jeremy McDiarmid, a current leader of the national business association Advanced Energy United who has previous experience working at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Northeast Clean Energy Council, SunBug Solar, and Environment Northeast (now the Acadia Center). And Cecile Fraser, an energy and utilities industry attorney first appointed to the DPU in 2017 by Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration, will be replaced as a commissioner by Liz Anderson, the current chief of the Energy and Ratepayer Advocacy Division in Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office…