About the PUCT  

Governor Greg Abbott appointed Will McAdams to serve as a commissioner on the Public Utility Commission of Texas on April 1, 2021 for a term set to expire on September 1, 2025. Before his appointment, Will served as President of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas where he represented the men and women who build Texas, advocating for jobsite safety programs, worker safety training, and promotion of skilled workforce development.

Before joining ABC of Texas, Will served for over 10 years in state government most recently as Advisor to Speaker Dennis Bonnen for Business and Regulated Industries. Prior to joining the Speaker's Staff, Will served in several senior staff positions within the Texas Senate. These included serving as the Director for the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce Chaired by Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills). Will has also served as Legislative Director for Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown), and as Deputy Director for the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Legislative and Media Relations Director for State Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay).

Before working in the State Capitol, Will served as an infantry officer for four years in the United States Army and retired honorably as a captain. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. He and his wife are raising their children in Austin, TX.

Governor Greg Abbott appointed Peter Lake to serve as Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas on April 12, 2021 for a term set to expire on September 1, 2023. Before his appointment, he served as Chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, the state's primary water planning and financing agency charged with leading the state's efforts to ensure a secure water future for Texans.

Lake has held a variety of financial roles across a number of industries. Previously, he acted as director of research and head of automated trading at Gambit Trading, a member firm of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In this capacity, he led the firm's market research initiatives and directed the development of its first automated trading programs. As one of the firm's proprietary market makers he also traded interest rate derivatives, primarily focusing on U.S. Treasury bond futures.

He has also served as director of business development for Lake Ronel Oil Company, where he focused on financial analysis of upstream oil and gas opportunities. In addition, he served as director of special projects for VantageCap Partners. In this position he played a key role in the due diligence, valuation, and transactional aspects of the successful divestment of the firm's primary investment.

Lake graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in public policy with a specialization in economics from the University of Chicago, and he earned a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

Lake was born and raised in Tyler, Texas.

Governor Greg Abbott named Arthur D'Andrea as chair of the Public Utility Commission on March 3, 2021. Chairman D'Andrea was first appointed to the Commission on November 14, 2017, for a term set to expire on September 1, 2023. Before his appointment, Commissioner D'Andrea served as Assistant General Counsel to Governor Abbott. His career has been primarily focused on the law, including his role as Assistant Solicitor General in the Texas Attorney General's office where he served as lead appellate counsel in matters including constitutional challenges to state statutes, public-utilities regulation, antitrust, tax disputes, insurance regulation, regulatory takings, and petitions for writ of habeas corpus. There he argued thirteen cases in the Second and Fifth Circuits, the Texas Supreme Court, and in the intermediate state courts of appeals.

Prior to joining the Attorney General's team, Arthur worked in the Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Practice Group for a private law firm where he represented clients before the United States Supreme Court and in federal and state courts of appeals nationwide in matters including white-collar criminal prosecutions, international-trade disputes, patent infringement, trademark disputes, bankruptcy, international arbitration, and securities litigation.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas, Commissioner D'Andrea worked as a Management Consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers before earning a Juris Doctor from the University Of Texas School Of Law. He and his wife, Erin, are raising their children in Austin, Texas.

Governor Greg Abbott appointed Shelly Botkin to serve as a commissioner on the Public Utility Commission of Texas on June 11, 2018, for a term set that expires on September 1, 2019. Before her appointment, Commissioner Botkin served as Director of Corporate Communications and Government Relations for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) where she worked to build awareness of the organization's vital role in managing the electric grid for most of Texas.

Prior to joining ERCOT, Shelly worked ten years in the Texas capitol as a senior policy analyst on business, regulatory, and environmental issues for two state senators and for both the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House.

After growing up in Lubbock, Shelly earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Governor Greg Abbott appointed DeAnn T. Walker to serve as chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas on September 20, 2017, for a term set that expires on September 1, 2021. Before her appointment, Chairman Walker served as the Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Abbott on matters related to regulated industries. Her career in the electric industry began at the Commission in 1988 where she served, first, as an Assistant General Counsel and, later, as an Administrative Law Judge until 1997. Before joining the Governor's staff, she served as Associate General Counsel and Director of Regulatory Affairs at CenterPoint Energy.

DeAnn is an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the Texas Reliability Entity and a member of the Regional State Committee for the Southwest Power Pool. She also has been appointed by Chairman Pai to serve on the Intergovernmental Advisory Commission of the Federal Communications Commission. She is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, serving on the Electricity Committee, and the Advisory Council of the New Mexico State University Center for Public Utilities.

Chairman Walker received an undergraduate degree in accounting from Southern Methodist University and a Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law. She and her husband Ron reside in Austin, Texas.

Commissioner Brandy Marty Marquez's term began on August 22, 2013 when she was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry. In 2015, Governor Greg Abbott reappointed Marquez, and she was confirmed unanimously by the Texas Senate. Her term expires on September 1, 2019.

Before joining the Commission, Marquez was Chief of Staff to Governor Rick Perry during the 83rd Legislative Session. She has held leadership roles in the public affairs arena for two decades, which include serving on the staff of Governor Perry as Deputy Chief of Staff, Director of the Budget, Planning and Policy Division, and Deputy Legislative Director. Marquez was also Policy Director for Perry's successful 2010 gubernatorial primary campaign.

Commissioner Marquez currently sits on the Texas Reliability Entity where she focuses on important issues like cyber security, regional standards, and enforcement issues. She also sits on the Nuclear Waste Storage Coalition which focuses on finding a solution to our nuclear waste storage issues across the country.

Commissioner Marquez graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and received her law degree from St. Mary's University. Marquez lives in Sunset Valley with her husband, Enrique, and their son, Max.

Kenneth W. Anderson, Jr. was appointed by then Governor Rick Perry to fill a vacancy on the Public Utility Commission on September 2, 2008 for a term to expire on September 1, 2011. On September 17, 2011, then Governor Perry reappointed Commissioner Anderson for a six-year term ending August 31, 2017. On May 8, 2013, The Texas Senate voted unanimously to confirm the appointment.

Commissioner Anderson has served as the Texas representative on the Entergy Regional State Committee (ERSC) since its formation in August 2009. He was elected President of the ERSC in August 2010, and was re-elected President of the ERSC in August 2012, to a term that ended in August 2013. In December 2013, his ERSC colleagues elected him to represent them on the Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO), a position he held until December 2016. Since December 2012, Commissioner Anderson has served as the Texas member of the Board of Directors of the Organization of MISO States (OMS), and in January 2015 was elected Treasurer by the OMS board. He was appointed by the then President of National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners to the Advisory Council of the Electric Power Research Institute in March of 2012 and he was reappointed on June 25, 2014 to an additional three year term ending August 31, 2017. Commissioner Anderson served as the Commission's representative on the Texas Reliability Entity's Board of Directors from May 2012 until January 2015 and as the President of the Southeastern Association of Utility Commissioners from June 2014 until June 2015.

Commissioner Anderson is an attorney with more than 20 years of experience in private practice in the areas of corporate finance law and regulatory and administrative legal matters. He previously served as Director of Governmental Appointments in the Office of Governor Rick Perry from 2001 to early 2008. Before assuming his position in the Governor's office, he practiced law in Dallas, Texas, with several law firms in the area of corporate and securities law. From 1988 to 1990, he served as Chief Deputy Director of Governmental Appointments in the Office of Governor William P. Clements, Jr.

Commissioner Anderson has been active in civic and governmental affairs. From 1990 until 1994, he served as General Counsel of a major state political party. In 1990, he was appointed by Governor Clements to serve as a member of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards; a position he held until 1995. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the North Central Texas Health Facilities Development Corporation from 1990 to 1997, having been appointed by the Dallas County Commissioners Court. During 1993 and 1994, he served as a member of the Rules Advisory Committee of the Texas Ethics Commission, during the overhaul of its rules and regulations. In May 1999, Governor George W. Bush appointed Mr. Anderson to a six-year term as a member of the Texas State Securities Board, the state agency that regulates the securities and investment advisory industry in this state. He served on the Board until December 2006.

Commissioner Anderson is a member of the Business Law and Administrative and Public Law sections of the State Bar of Texas, and a past member of the Securities Law and Corporation Law committees.

Commissioner Anderson received a bachelor's degree in international affairs from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a law degree from Southern Methodist University. He and his wife live in University Park, Dallas County, Texas.

Donna L. Nelson was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott on September 10, 2015 for a term set to expire September 1, 2021. Chairman Nelson was first appointed by Governor Rick Perry to the Public Utility Commission on August 15, 2008 and named chairman on July 26, 2011. Prior to her appointment, Nelson served as a special assistant and advisor to Governor Perry on energy and telecommunication issues. She also assisted the Governor's Competitiveness Council with the preparation of the Texas 2008 State Energy Plan. She previously served as director of the PUC's telecommunications section and as legal advisor to the PUCT chairman.

Nelson sits on the Board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and is a member of the Southwest Power Pool Regional State Committee. She is active with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, where she is a vice-chair of the Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment and a member of the Task Force on Environmental Regulation and Generation. Nelson is a member of the Texas Bioenergy Policy Council and the Texas Broadband Task Force. She is also on the Advisory Board of the Annual Baseline Assessment of Choice in Canada and the United States (ABACCUS).

Additionally, Nelson is a former assistant attorney general of Texas, where she specialized in antitrust law. She also worked as a Legislative Assistant to a United States Senator. Nelson is a licensed attorney and a past member of the Texas Council on Autism and Pervasive Developmental Delays.

Nelson received a bachelor's degree from Black Hills State College and a law degree from Texas Tech University.