Speakers

James M. “Jamie” Van Nostrand was appointed Chair of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, with his term beginning May 1, 2023. He leads regulation of electric, natural gas, water utilities, and transportation oversight in the Commonwealth. Previously, he was the Charles M. Love, Jr. Endowed Professor and Director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at West Virginia University College of Law and the author of The Coal Trap: How West Virginia Was Left Behind in the Clean Energy Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Earlier, he served as adjunct faculty and Executive Director at Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law and Energy & Climate Center, and spent 22 years in private practice as a partner at Perkins Coie and Stoel Rives, representing clients in state regulatory proceedings across eight Western states and before FERC. He holds an LL.M. in Environmental Law from Pace University, a J.D. from the University of Iowa, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in economics from SUNY Albany and the University of Northern Iowa.