News | previous page

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 6, 2007 
CONTACT: Leah Mohr, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, (605) 773-3201 

Commissioner Kolbeck named to national telecommunications committee 

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Steve Kolbeck was recently appointed to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' Telecommunications Committee by NARUC President James Y. Kerr, II.

"Your active service on this Committee is important to the cause of strengthening effective public regulation," Kerr stated in a letter to Kolbeck.

As a committee member, Kolbeck will contribute to discussions and analyses of many telecommunications topics. "During my 12 years of working in the telecommunications industry, I've seen firsthand how services and technologies are constantly evolving," Kolbeck said. "I am looking forward to bringing a South Dakota perspective to infrastructure, policy and other issues that come before the Telecommunications Committee," he stated.

Members of the Telecommunications Committee include representatives of state regulatory agencies as well as the current Federal Communications Commission chairman, Kevin Martin.

Commissioner Kolbeck has served on the PUC since December 2006. Prior to that he was a Brandon, S.D., city council member and held positions with Northern Telecom (now Nortel Networks), AT&T, South Dakota Network (now SDN Communications), and Alliance Communications.

NARUC is a non-profit organization founded in 1889. Its mission is to serve the public interest by improving the quality and effectiveness of public utility regulation. Under State law, NARUC's members have the obligation to ensure the establishment and maintenance of utility services as may be required by the public convenience and necessity, and to ensure that such services are provided at rates and conditions that are just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory for all consumers.

-30-