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Commissioner Pat O’Connell

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Pat O'Connell

Pat O'Connell

Commissioner

Pat.OConnell@prc.nm.gov

P.O. Box 1269
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504

Personal Background

Commissioner Patrick O’Connell is serving a six-year appointment to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC), his term began on January 1, 2023 (term expires December 31, 2028). In addition to serving as one of New Mexico’s  three Commissioners, he is President of the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners, sits on the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (“NERC”) Member Representative Committee, the Markets + State Committee (MSC), the Western Resource Adequacy Program’s Committee of State Regulators (COSR), and is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC) Energy Resources and the Environment Committee.

Commissioner O’Connell has also previously served as Chair of the NMPRC, served as President of Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) Regional State Committee in 2025, has participated in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC)’s Member Advisory Committee, and on the FERC-NARUC Current Issues Collaborative.

Prior to joining the NMPRC, Patrick worked for Western Resource Advocates, providing leadership to the Clean Energy Team. Before joining Western Resource Advocates, Patrick was a long-tenured employee at the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), where he directed PNM’s Integrated Resource Planning team, and led natural gas procurement planning efforts for New Mexico Gas Company.  Patrick is a registered Professional Civil Engineer, a graduate of the University of New Mexico and lives in Albuquerque.

Education

UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

Commissioner O’Connell’s Staff

Jennifer Baca
Executive Assistant

Phone: 505-469-3537
Email: jennifer.baca@prc.nm.gov

 

McLee Kerolle
Technical Advisor

Email: mclee.kerolle@prc.nm.gov