Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) is an agency of Federal State of Ohio that is charged with the regulation of utility service providers such as those of electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications as well as railroad safety and intrastate hazardous materials transport. There are several ways by which the Commission attempts to do as such [1]:
- Enforcement of laws against service deemed unfair or unsafe
- Resolving disputes between utilities and residential, business, and industrial customers, as well as between competing utilities.
- Assuring availibility of residential, business, and industrial utility services
- Providing consumers with relevant information about their rights and responsibilities
- Regulating rates for utility services in which there is little to no competition (i.e. electricity and natural gas services)
There are five commissioners (one of whom serves as chairman) as well as approximately 400 agency employees. Each commissioner is appointed by the residing governor to a five-year term. Current commissioners are:
- Alan R. Schriber (chair), thru April 2009
- Ronda Hartman Fergus, thru April 2010
- Judy A. Jones, thru April 2007
- Valerie A. Lemmie, thru April 2011
- Donald L. Mason, thru April 2008
