Kentucky.gov

      Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Mark David Goss has been named to head the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) subcommittee on clean coal technology.
      “No state has a greater stake than Kentucky in the development of new technologies that allow us to continue to use coal for the generation of electricity while reducing air emissions, particularly those implicated in global climate change,” Goss said. “Through this panel, NARUC intends to play an active role in shaping our nation’s policies on the future uses of coal.”
      Governor Ernie Fletcher, who has emphasized sound energy policy as a key to moving Kentucky forward, said that Goss’ role in heading the NARUC subcommittee will be a benefit to Kentucky.
      “This is an opportunity for Kentucky to take a leading role in the national discussion over the role of coal in our economy in the decades to come,” said Governor Fletcher. “I commend Chairman Goss for taking on this responsibility and I am confident that he will represent Kentucky very effectively in this crucial policy arena.”
      Goss said coal, from Kentucky and elsewhere, can remain as a major fuel for electric generation for the foreseeable future.
      “The key will be to develop new technologies that continue to reduce the impacts of coal combustion on the environment while retaining coal’s status as an economical way to generate electricity,” he said.  “The success of those efforts is vital to Kentucky.”
      Clean coal technology includes refinements of existing coal combustion technology to greatly reduce emissions; technology that converts coal into a clean-burning gas; and technologies that capture and store carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by coal combustion or gasification.
      Goss said the issues before the NARUC subcommittee will be complex and potentially contentious.
      “Finding comprehensive solutions to any energy policy questions, and in particular the future of electric generation from coal, will require consensus and compromise from interests with widely varying points of view,” he said. “That is why I intend to seek counsel and input from many sources.
      “The NARUC subcommittee on clean coal technology has a challenging task ahead of it,” Goss said. “I am humbled by the confidence that my peers on utility commissions in other states have shown in me by asking me to head this effort.”
 Governor Fletcher appointed Goss to the PSC in February 2004.
      Goss also is a member of the board of directors of NARUC and serves on NARUC’s Electricity Committee. He is past president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (SEARUC) and is on the board of directors of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (MACRUC). He also serves on the board of directors of the Organization of MISO (Midwest Independent System Operator) States (OMS) and is on the board of directors and executive committee of the Organization of PJM States, Inc. (OPSI).
      Prior to joining the PSC, Goss was a partner with his father, Eugene Goss, in the law firm of Goss & Goss Attorneys in Harlan.
      The PSC is an agency within the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. It regulates more than 1,500 gas, water, sewer, electric and telecommunication utilities operating in the commonwealth of Kentucky and has approximately 110 employees.