u.s. power & renewables summit 2017

Norman C. Bay is a partner in the Corporate & Financial Services Department and Head of the Energy Regulatory and Enforcement Group in Washington.  Mr. Bay advises clients on a range of energy market regulation issues, including those relating to policy, rates, terms, and conditions of service, and mergers and acquisitions.  He also focuses on enforcement and compliance and infrastructure development in the energy sector.  As a past Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Mr. Bay has significant experience with all aspects of FERC’s jurisdiction over the U.S. wholesale natural gas and electricity markets, as well as natural gas and oil pipelines.  As a former Director of Enforcement at FERC, he has a deep understanding of FERC’s enforcement jurisdiction and priorities, as well as the new anti-manipulation rules of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).  Mr. Bay’s white collar defense practice includes handling parallel investigations involving FERC or CFTC and DOJ.

Charles Patton is executive vice president – External Affairs for AEP. He leads AEP’s customer services, communications, federal public policy and corporate sustainability initiatives.

Patton previously was president and chief operating officer of Appalachian Power, an operating utility of AEP serving approximately 1 million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.

In previous roles, Patton served AEP as executive vice president – AEP Utilities West and senior vice president – Regulatory and Public Policy. Prior to these roles, a significant amount of Patton’s career was in Texas where he served as president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas as well as in other executive positions. During his tenure in Texas, Patton was appointed by former Texas Gov. George Bush to serve on the Texas Energy Coordination Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Later, Gov. Rick Perry appointed Patton to the Texas Energy Planning Council, which was established to advise the governor on energy matters.

Most recently, Patton was appointed by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to the governor’s Environmental Sustainability Committee and by West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to chair the governor’s Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Patton was appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s board of directors for a three-year term beginning in 2014. He also serves on the board of Sterling Construction, a large public engineering and construction company located in Houston.

Patton has served and chaired numerous professional and civic organizations in the communities in which he has lived. Most recently, he served on the boards of the University of Charleston, the West Virginia Education Alliance and the West Virginia Regional Technology Park. At AEP, he is an executive sponsor of the African-American Employee Resource Group (AAERG). Patton resides in Columbus, Ohio.

He is an undergraduate of Bowdoin College, located in Brunswick, Maine, and holds a graduate degree from The University of Texas LBJ School of Public Policy.

Frances A. Koncilja was appointed to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission by Governor John Hickenlooper in January of 2016 and confirmed by the Colorado Senate in February with almost unanimous bipartisan approval. Her four-year term expires in January of 2020.

Frances, originally from Pueblo, has practiced law in the Denver area since 1972. She began her career with the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office, and later worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She entered private practice in 1978 and in 1993 founded the law firm Koncilja & Associates, which Frances closed as the result of her appointment to the PUC. For 23 years, the firm handled a broad range of commercial, civil and bankruptcy disputes in state and federal courts.

Throughout her career, Frances has dedicated herself to public service and the people of Colorado. Some of her notable appointments and affiliations have included:

• Colorado Women’s Bar Association, Founding Member
• Colorado Bar Association, President
• Colorado Lottery Commission, Chair and Board Member
• Colorado Economic Development Commission, Board Member
• Colorado Supreme Court & Court of Appeals Nominating Commission
• Colorado Supreme Court Grievance Committee
• American Bar Association, Standing Committee on the Judiciary
• Justice Center Task Force and Citizens for Safe Denver, Co-Chair
• Better Denver, Co-Chair
• Denver’s Infrastructure priorities Task Force, Member
• Denver Rustlers, Member and Lead Organizer
• State Fair Authority Board of Commissioners, Member

Frances earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Colorado State College in Pueblo and received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Colorado law school.  Frances credits any of her successes to her Italian and Slavic blue-collar working class background and the work ethic she learned from her parents, grandparents, friends and family in Pueblo.

Nick Sellers is senior vice president of business origination for Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company. Southern Power is America’s premier wholesale energy partner, meeting the electricity needs of municipalities, electric cooperatives, investor- owned utilities and other energy customers with one of the fastest growing clean energy portfolios in the U.S. In this role, Nick is responsible for business origination with Southeast and national customers, as well as competitive intelligence. He was named to this position in 2017. Most recently, Sellers served as senior vice president of project development and construction for Southern Power, where he was responsible for generation development, siting, construction and state and local affairs. Beginning in 2016, he also served as vice president of external and regulatory affairs. Sellers began his career with Alabama Power in 2003, where he served in leadership assignments including vice president of regulatory and corporate affairs with responsibilities for pricing, rate design, policy and planning, federal affairs and corporate relations. He also served as vice president of corporate relations, leading federal and community relations, workforce development, and volunteer services. In addition, Sellers worked as the assistant to the president and CEO of Alabama Power after joining the company as the federal legislative relations director. Prior to joining Southern Company, Sellers worked for the Business Council of Alabama and as policy advisor and special assistant for economic development for the governor of Alabama. Sellers earned his undergraduate degree from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and a Juris Doctor from the Birmingham School of Law in 2008. He serves on the boards of directors of A.G. Gaston Enterprises, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Alabama Sports Council, Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center, Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Foundation, St. Vincent’s Foundation and the Greater Birmingham Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of the 2014 Class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. Sellers and his wife, Julie, are the parents of three children , Annie, Maria and Nicholas.