Hayley Williamson was appointed Chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada by Governor Steve Sisolak effective January 1, 2020.
Governor Sisolak appointed Chair Williamson as a PUCN Commissioner on April 29, 2019. As a Commissioner, she has been responsible for developing rules for many important pieces of legislation from the 2019 Legislative session, including rules to implement Nevada’s new Renewable Portfolio Standard. Chair Williamson has worked at the PUCN since 2013 and has more than a decade of public utility law experience. Before her appointment to the Commission, Chair Williamson served as senior assistant general counsel and acting general counsel.
During her time with the PUCN, Chair Williamson successfully represented the agency in the Nevada Supreme Court and at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Chair Williamson also was instrumental in drafting the PUCN’s comments on the Clean Energy Plan. Prior to working at the PUCN, Chair Williamson taught environmental law and environmental science at the University of Wisconsin and at Sierra Nevada College.
Chair Williamson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, where she earned her bachelor’s degree; and magna cum laude from Vermont Law School, where she earned her Juris Doctorate. At Vermont Law School, Chair Williamson was an editor of the Vermont Law Review. She also holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge, where she wrote her master’s thesis on renewable energy and land use issues on the West Coast.
Chair Williamson was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, and lives in Stateline, Nevada, with her family.