Governor Appoints New PUC Chair

Governor Greg Abbott appointed Kathleen Jackson as Interim Chair of the Public Utility Commission on June 7, 2023. She was appointed a commissioner on Aug. 5, 2022, and confirmed by the Texas Senate on May 26, 2023.

Since joining the PUCT, Jackson has spearheaded efforts to improve the energy efficiency of the state’s electric grid. She previously served as a Board Member of the Texas Water Development Board, first appointed by Governor Rick Perry in 2014 and reappointed by Governor Abbott in 2017.
Throughout her career, Jackson has represented agricultural, environmental, industrial, and wholesale supply interests, including developing and implementing water management strategies for Southeast Texas. A registered professional engineer, Jackson was a public affairs manager for one of the world’s largest petroleum and petrochemical producers.

Jackson was also involved in production agriculture with her late husband, who ran a cattle operation and farmed rice. She was a member of the Lower Neches Valley Authority Board of Directors and the Texas Water Conservation Association. She participated in the Sabine and Neches Rivers Bay and Estuary Environmental Flows Assessment Program Stakeholders Committee. In August 2021, Governor Abbott appointed her to the Environmental Flows Advisory Group.

She is also a board member and past president of the Lamar Institute of Technology Foundation, a sustaining member of the Junior League of Beaumont, a member of the Texas Farm Bureau, past president of the American Cancer Society of North Jefferson County, and a past board member of Junior Achievement of the Golden Triangle.

Jackson received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University.