The North Carolina General Assembly confirmed School of Government faculty member Jeffrey Hughes last Thursday, October 30, to serve on the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Nominated by Governor Roy Cooper, Hughes will sit on the Commission to set rates for companies that provide electricity, telephone service, natural gas, water and wastewater, household goods movers, buses, brokers, and ferryboats.

Hughes joins the group along with two fellow newcomers: Kimberly Duffley, a former senior staff attorney for the Commission, and Floyd McKissick III, a state senator from Durham. The trio will serve as Commissioners for six years, negotiating and approving rate requests in the state.

Hughes has served at the School of Government since 2002. In his seventeen-year tenure, he has taught public officials and students in the Master of Public Administration program. His areas of expertise include service pricing, economic regulation, and environmental and public finance. For his teaching in these fields, Hughes was named Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Term Lecturer for 2012–2014.

At the School, Hughes also served as the director of the Environmental Finance Center, where he led efforts to enhance the ability of governments and other organizations to provide effective and financially sustainable environmental programs and services.

Hughes brings thirty years of environmental finance experience to the role. Prior to joining the School, he served as the Chatham County Utility Director and as an international finance advisor with RTI International. Hughes is an active member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Council of Infrastructure Authorities (CIFA), and holds a seat on the Board of NC GreenPower and the EPA Environmental Financial Advisory Board. He earned a master’s degree in environmental engineering with a focus on water economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Duke University.