Biography
Gladys Brown Dutrieuille is now serving her second term as a Commissioner for the Public Utility Commission, after being nominated by Gov. Tom Wolf on Feb. 13, 2018, and unanimously confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate on April 17, 2018. Her term expires April 1, 2023. She began her service at the PUC in 2013 and was first appointed as Chairman of the Commission in 2015. On April 15, 2019, Gov. Tom Wolf reappointed her as Chairman.
Chairman Brown Dutrieuille has pledged to use the same fair and balanced approach in dealing with PUC issues that she used in her more than 22 years as an aide in the Pennsylvania Senate. She highlighted the importance of the Commissions work to educate consumers, enhance the safety and reliability of utility services and explore innovations for the future.
Career
Since 1991, Chairman Brown Dutrieuille served as counsel to the Senate Democratic Leader where she worked on many of the major utility issues that have been considered by the General Assembly in the last two decades including all of the major deregulation bills for telecommunications, electricity and natural gas; Act 201 of 2004, which added Chapter 14 to the Public Utility Code and changed the handling of consumer terminations and reconnections; Act 129 of 2008, which addressed energy efficiency and procurement; and Act 11 of 2012, which expanded use of the distribution system improvement charge.
Prior to joining the Senate, Chairman Brown Dutrieuille served as an assistant counsel for the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs in the Pennsylvania Department of State and as a clerk for the late Honorable Paul A. Simmons, Judge for the U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania.
Education
A native of Middletown, Pa., Chairman Brown Dutrieuille earned her bachelor’s and juris doctorate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. She lives in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, where she is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She also is a member of the Dauphin County Bar Association, the James S. Bowman Inns of Court, the Keystone Bar Association and the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank Board of Directors. She is an active member at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Harrisburg. She is also an active member in Epsilon Sigma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and the Harrisburg Chapter of AABE (American Association of Blacks in Energy). Chairman Brown Dutrieuille also serves on the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) committees on Critical Infrastructure and Electricity.