Joseph Sullivan was appointed to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission by Governor Tim Walz, effective April 6, 2020, and appointed Vice Chair on May 21, 2020. Vice Chair Sullivan currently serves as Chair of the MISO Regional Expansion Criteria and Benefits Working Group (RECBWG) and is Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Organization of MISO States (OMS). He is a member of the Electric Power Research Institute Advisory Council and Executive Committee. He also serves as a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).
Sullivan previously served as Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Energy Resources at the Minnesota Department of Commerce. In this role, Joe led the Division and supervised the Minnesota State Energy Office and the Energy Planning and Advocacy unit.
Prior to coming to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Joe was the Manager of Legislative and External Affairs for the Center for Energy and Environment where he worked with policy makers, regulators, utilities, energy advocates, and other key stakeholders to advance energy efficiency and clean energy policy in Minnesota.
Joe has also worked as the Regional Policy Manager for Wind on the Wires where he worked in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa to advance policies for wind power and transmission access. Joe started his career by spending six and a half years representing a municipal power agency and Greater Minnesota cities as a senior attorney at Flaherty & Hood P.A. in St. Paul, Minn. At Flaherty & Hood, Joe worked on renewable energy, transmission issues, state conservation goals, greenhouse gas reduction initiatives, net metering, nuclear waste, and utility taxation issues. Prior to joining Flaherty & Hood, Joe worked in Washington, DC at the U.S. House Committee on Science and at the Internal Revenue Service.
Joe holds degrees from Marquette University and University of Wisconsin Law School.
