Rhode Island's Roberti Tapped to Lead Pipeline Safety Task Force

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November 22, 2011

WASHINGTON—National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President David Wright of South Carolina appointed Commissioner Paul Roberti of Rhode Island to lead the Association’s Task Force on Pipeline Safety.

Commissioner Roberti, an original member of the Task Force, is succeeding outgoing Chair Colette Honorable of Arkansas, who is resigning as she takes other responsibilities within the Association. Chair Honorable will remain a member of the Task Force.

The NARUC Pipeline Safety Task Force, established in March 2011, interacts with the Association’s member public service commissioners, the federal government, and consumer and industry stakeholders. The panel analyzes pipeline safety issues, discusses best practices, and leads the Association’s advocacy before Congress and the federal agencies.

Membership on the Task Force reflects the nation’s geographic diversity. Aside from Commissioners Roberti and Honorable, members of the Task Force include NARUC Committee on Gas Chair Timothy Alan Simon of California, Commissioner John E. Coleman of Pennsylvania, and Commissioner Swain Whitfield of South Carolina. The Task Force is supported by NARUC Staff Subcommittee on Pipeline Safety Chair Randy Knepper of New Hampshire.

“Commissioner Roberti is the right person to lead this Task Force,” said President Wright. “His expertise and experience on pipeline issues will serve us and our consumers well. Pipeline safety is perhaps our most important responsibility as regulators.  We rely on strong teamwork with our State inspectors to make sure pipeline companies operate their system in a safe and secure manner. I want to salute Chair Honorable for doing a Yeoman’s job in getting this Task Force off the ground and collaborating with our State and federal colleagues. Job well done.”

“I look forward to leading this Task Force,” Commissioner Roberti said. “Pipeline safety is a responsibility that falls on all involved—States, our federal partners, and the operators who own the pipelines. This Task Force serves a critical function of bringing in regulators from all across the country to discuss best practices and interact with the federal government. As a regulator, pipeline safety is my highest priority and I am anxious to get started. My thanks to President Wright, Chair Honorable and my colleagues and staff on the Task Force. Our work on this issue is never finished.”

Commissioner Roberti was appointed to the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission in March 2009 for a six-year term. Within NARUC, Commissioner Roberti is a member of the Gas Committee and the Subcommittee on Utility Marketplace Access.

Prior to his PUC appointment, Commissioner Roberti served for 17 years in the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office, most recently as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Regulatory Unit. In that capacity, he has been involved in hundreds of proceedings involving public utility and energy matters before the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board, the Rhode Island Supreme Court and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
 

NARUC is a non-profit organization founded in 1889 whose members include the governmental agencies that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. NARUC's member agencies regulate telecommunications, energy, and water utilities. NARUC represents the interests of State public utility commissions before the three branches of the Federal government.

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