October 4, 2023 – The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC or Coalition)[i] announces the election of North Carolina Utilities Commissioner Kimberly Duffley as its new Chair and Michigan Public Service Commissioner Katherine Peretick as its new Vice Chair, joining others on the executive team in leading the member-driven organization to carry out its important mission regarding used nuclear fuel management.
In addition to being an accomplished attorney and state regulator in North Carolina, Chair Duffley serves as Chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Electricity Committee; Co-Chair of the Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission; and a member of both the Department of Energy (DOE)-NARUC Nuclear Energy Partnership and the NARUC-National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) Advanced Nuclear State Collaborative. She also has served on the NWSC Executive Committee since 2021, most recently as Vice Chair. Thus, Chair Duffley is significantly engaged in communicating state regulatory interests on several national energy policy issues, and she is keenly aware of the impacts of the federal government’s failure to remove used nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plant sites in her home state of North Carolina and many others across the country.
“The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition has served as a longstanding, reliable voice in the federal policy dialogue on behalf of a diverse group of public and private sector members,” said Chair Duffley. “I am honored to serve the organization in the next chapter of its endeavors to spur the meaningful action that is long overdue and that the impacted host communities, electric customers, and U.S. taxpayers all so greatly deserve.”
Commented North Carolina Utilities Commission-Public Staff Executive Director Chris Ayers, “It is great to know that North Carolina electric customer payments into the federal Nuclear Waste Fund—and the lack of federal action in return as promised decades ago—have not been forgotten, and I appreciate Commissioner Duffley’s dedication to advancing solutions to the longstanding problem.”
Michigan Public Service Commissioner Katherine Peretick succeeds Duffley as the organization’s new Vice Chair. An engineer by training with significant experience in energy project development, Vice Chair Peretick brings a valuable perspective to the NWSC Executive Committee. Vice Chair Peretick’s most relevant leadership roles include service on the NARUC Electricity Committee, NARUC Subcommittee on Nuclear Issues—Waste Disposal, NARUC Nuclear Energy Partnership, NARUC- NASEO Advanced Nuclear State Collaborative, and the Michigan Nuclear Feasibility Study Workgroup.
“As one of the founding members of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, the Michigan Public Service Commission has long supported the NWSC’s mission and goals,” noted Vice Chair Peretick. “I’m honored to serve in NWSC leadership at this key period in which states are grappling with retention and expansion of nuclear generation.”
Chair Duffley succeeds Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Chair Katie Sieben, who served as NWSC Chair from March 2021 to present.
Chair Sieben shared, “The Coalition has a deep bench of leaders with expansive policy and technical expertise and a common drive to succeed on behalf of those negatively impacted by the federal government inaction. The NWSC is in excellent hands with Chair Duffley and Vice Chair Peretick, who will further raise the level of the organization’s engagement with Congress, the Administration, and other federal, tribal, state, and local officials—and concurrently raise the odds of success.”
Chair Duffley recognized the accomplishments of NWSC Chair Emeritus Sieben, who will remain a valued Coalition member despite stepping down from its leadership to focus on other regulatory priorities and commitments.
Chair Duffley stated, “Chair Sieben led the NWSC at a particularly challenging time, including, but not limited to, the long-lasting impacts of the global pandemic. The NWSC is most grateful for her stellar navigation around many obstacles.”
The regulatory trio of Commissioners Duffley, Peretick, and Sieben jointly added, “As our states and others explore the possibility of additional nuclear generation, the urgent need for a national integrated nuclear waste management program is underscored. We call upon Congress and the Administration to finally deliver on the federal government’s statutory obligation to remove and ultimately dispose of the used nuclear fuel from our states.”
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[i] The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition is an ad hoc organization representing the collective interests of member state utility regulators, consumer advocates, attorneys general, and radiation control officials; tribal governments; local governments; electric utilities with operating and/or shutdown nuclear reactors; and other experts on nuclear waste policy matters. For over two decades, we have called for the Department of Energy to remove and ultimately dispose of commercial nuclear waste in accordance with federal law and contracts with electric utilities.
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