Meet Our Chairman and Commissioners

Chairman Albert

Michael A. Albert of Charleston, Kanawha County, was appointed in February 2007 to an unexpired term ending June 30, 2007, as Commissioner of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia. He was reappointed to a six-year term expiring June 30, 2013. On August 15, 2007, he was appointed PSC Chairman. He previously served as a Member in the Business Law Department of Jackson Kelly, PLLC, Charleston, WV, focusing on the areas of public utilities and business and commercial transactions.

He currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Kanawha County Public Library. He has served on the Board and as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Education Alliance; Junior Achievement of Kanawha County; and the WVU Law School Visiting Committee.

Chairman Albert graduated from West Virginia University with a B.S. in Business Administration, majoring in Accounting. Upon graduating, he served as an officer in the United States Navy, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. Following an Honorable Discharge, he attended West Virginia University College of Law where he received his Doctorate of Jurisprudence, with honors. He currently resides in Charleston with his wife, Laura Lee. They have three children, Michael, Jason and Melissa and five grandsons.

Commissioner McKinney

Jon W. McKinney of Charleston, Kanawha County, was appointed to a six year term as Commissioner of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia in August 2005. Previously, he had numerous assignments in manufacturing, R&D, and marketing with Monsanto Company in locations throughout the U.S. and was chairman of the Chemical Industry Committee for West Virginia for eight years.

He is currently the Chairman of the Clean Coal Subcommittee for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and is on the Board of Directors of NARUC. He recently was appointed to The National Coal Council. He serves as member of the Eastern Interconnect Shareholder Steering Committee. He is also on the Advisory Committee for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He is Past President of the Organization of PJM States and Past President of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners. He served on the Board of Directors of Thomas Memorial Hospital and St Francis Hospitals in Charleston.

He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and the University of West Florida, where he earned his master’s degree in business administration. He currently resides in Charleston with his wife Paula. They have two children Lisa and Jason, as well as five grandchildren.

Commissioner Palmer

Ryan B. Palmer, of Charleston, Kanawha County, was appointed in July 2010 to an unexpired term ending June 30, 2015, as Commissioner of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.  He previously served as Deputy General Counsel to West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, III; as Attorney/Advisor to Commissioner Charlotte R. Lane of the United States International Trade Commission and Law Clerk to the Honorable W. Craig Broadwater of the United States District Court, Northern District of West Virginia.

His professional certifications include the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Courts for Northern and Southern West Virginia and the West Virginia State Bar.  He also successfully completed the European Union Law summer program through the Tulane University College of Law Summer School Abroad Program at the Tulane Center for European Union Law, University of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.

He is currently a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Committee on Telecommunications and Committee on International Relations.

He has volunteered for Charleston Area Medical Center’s Challenged Sports Program, which sponsors a variety of statewide sporting competitions for athletes of all ages with physical disabilities, and for the Special Olympics.

Born in Morgantown and raised in St. Albans, he is a graduate of West Virginia University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the West Virginia University College of Law.  He and his wife Flavia currently reside in Charleston and have one daughter, Lia Cristina.