SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
CARSON CITY — Governor Jim Gibbons today announced the appointment of Alaina Burtenshaw to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN). Ms. Burtenshaw is presently Legal Counsel for Regulatory Operations Staff at the PUCN. She has been an employee of the PUCN since 1992. Prior to that, Ms. Burtenshaw worked for Hilbrecht and Associates law firm in Las Vegas.
Ms. Burtenshaw is a resident of Pahrump, Nevada. She received her undergraduate degree in history at Idaho State University and her law degree from the Ross McCollum College of Law at the University of Nebraska.
Ms. Burtenshaw will replace Jo Anne Kelly on the PUCN.
The PUCN’s mission is to enable universal access to affordable, efficient, safe and reliable utility service in Nevada by ensuring that all of its decisions are based on a fair and impartial examination of the evidence, as well as exhaustive investigation. The commission balances the interest of customers and shareholders of public utilities by providing utilities with the opportunity to earn a fair return on their investments while providing customers with just and reasonable rates.
The PUCN consists of three Commissioners appointed by the Governor for terms of 4 years. The Governor appoints as members of the Commission persons who have at least 2 years of experience in one or more of the following fields:
(a) Accounting.
(b) Business administration.
(c) Finance or economics.
(d) Administrative law.
(e) Professional engineering