A former elected official from Eastern Kentucky who was part of Democratic leadership in the Kentucky House has been appointed to a powerful board regulating Kentucky utilities.??

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear named John Will Stacy of West Liberty, a state representative from 1993 to 2015, to the three-member Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC).

Stacy was House majority whip serving alongside then-House Speaker Greg Stumbo and then-House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, who is now a senior advisor to Beshear.

?A spokesperson for Beshear’s office did not immediately respond to questions about why Stacy was appointed and what experience he has in utility regulation.

Stacy replaces Kent Chandler, the former chair and leader of the commission. Chandler resigned from his post in June to the dismay of some consumer advocates and told the Lantern he had no indication or confidence he would have been reappointed by Beshear. Beshear earlier this year made PSC commissioner Angie Hatton, another former Democratic state representative from Eastern Kentucky, the new chair of the commission.?

Stacy served on the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, shaping state budgets during his time as a lawmaker. He supported the construction of a prospective natural gas pipeline that had some landowners worried over the potential use of eminent domain. After deciding not to seek reelection in 2014, Stacy worked as an economic development director at Morehead State University and also served as Morgan County judge executive from 2019 to 2023. He earned an undergraduate degree from Morehead and a law degree from Northern Kentucky University.

The PSC regulates the rates and services of more than 1,100 utilities, ranging from large investor-owned electric providers like Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities to small water districts that provide drinking water to rural communities.?

The quasi-judicial state agency hears requests from utilities to retire or build new facilities, including solar installations that want to establish in Kentucky. The agency also fields complaints from Kentuckians about service and rates. The commission will have to work with a new board created by the legislature to slow the retirement of fossil fuel-fired power plants in the state.?

Stacy will require confirmation by the GOP-dominated Kentucky Senate during next year’s legislative session to remain in his position, something that hasn’t been a guarantee. Amy Cubbage, an attorney who formerly served as Beshear’s general counsel among other roles in his administration, wasn’t confirmed by the Senate to the PSC in 2022.