Commissioner Michael T. Richard

Michael T. Richard was first appointed to the Maryland Public Service Commission in January 2016 and reappointed in 2020. Prior to his appointment, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Larry Hogan, advising the Governor on a portfolio of issues and helping to manage cabinet agencies that included Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Lottery and Gaming, Natural Resources and Transportation.

Commissioner Richard worked for more than 10 years at the Nuclear Energy Institute as Legislative Programs Director and Congressional Information Program Director. He then served in Governor Robert Ehrlich’s administration as Deputy Secretary of Appointments and as Director of the Maryland Energy Administration.

In 2005, he was appointed to a post at the U.S. Department of Energy—first serving as Executive Director of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board and later as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs where his issues included nuclear energy, radioactive waste management, and legacy environmental remediation. In 2008, Commissioner Richard was hired by Westinghouse Electric Company as Director of Government and International Affairs. He rejoined Maryland state government in 2015.

Commissioner Richard is a past President of the Organization of PJM States, Inc. (OPSI) and currently serves as its Treasurer, is a member of the Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment and the Committee on Critical Infrastructure for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and was appointed by Governor Hogan as the Commission’s representative on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission (WMATC), where he serves as Vice-Chairman.

Commissioner Richard earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park. He attended a French language program at L’Université Laval in Québec City, Canada. Commissioner Richard lives in Fort Washington, Maryland.

(410) 767-8116