The Public Service Board will get a new name July 1, when it will become Vermont’s Public Utility Commission.
The board is a three-person quasi-judicial body that regulates the state’s utility providers, including electric, gas, telecommunications and private water companies.
The board also oversees regulations on new and existing energy plants, such as hydroelectric dams, solar arrays and wind turbines.
The name change results from Act 53, passed in the state Legislature this year, which sets out a number of other less obvious changes to the board, the scope of the Department of Public Service’s authority, and the way in which the board conducts its hearings.
The board says its new name should be less easily confused with that of the Department of Public Service, a separate state agency. The Department of Public Service often acts as a representative of the general public’s interests in proceedings before the Public Service Board.
Aside from averting possible confusion, the new name also better reflects the board’s scope of authority, according to the PSB.
The Public Service Board earlier this month got a new chairman, ahead of its new name, with Gov. Phil Scott appointing Anthony Roisman to the position, where he replaced former board Chairman Jim Volz.
