Richard Cowart

Regulatory Assistance Project

Richard Cowart is a Director of The Regulatory Assistance Project. One of the nation’s most experienced regulatory commissioners, he served as Commissioner and Chair of the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) for thirteen years (1986-1999). He was elected President of the New England Conference of Public Utility Commissioners, and Chair of the NARUC Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment. He also served for four years as Chair of the National Council on Competition and the Electric Industry, an association of state and federal officials and legislators responsible for power sector reform in the U.S. Before his appointment to the PSB, Mr. Cowart was Assistant Professor and Director of the program in Planning and Law at the University of California, Berkeley (1980-85), and Executive Officer and General Counsel of the Vermont Environmental Board (1978-80). He received his B.A. from Davidson College, and the J.D. and Master of City Planning degrees from UC, Berkeley, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Ecology Law Quarterly, a leading journal of environmental law and policy.

From:  Regulatory Assistance Project Website