Meet the Commissioners
Chairman, Kentucky Public Service Commission
Michael J. Schmitt was appointed and designated as chairman of the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) by Governor Matthew Bevin on June 21, 2016, and reappointed on June 19, 2019. His term expires June 30, 2023.
Prior to joining the PSC, Chairman Schmitt was a partner in the law firm of Porter, Schmitt, Banks & Baldwin in Paintsville. He is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association, is admitted to practice before all federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, and has served as a special justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court. He represented a variety of clients, notably energy companies and local boards of education. He has also worked for the Kentucky League of Cities, the Kentucky Association of Counties and the Kentucky Department of Education.
Chairman Schmitt is a member of the National Association of Utility Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) and serves on its Committee on Water and Subcommittee on Pipeline Safety. He is a member of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners.
Chairman Schmitt received a Juris Doctorate, with distinction, from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Kentucky Law Journal. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and has been recognized for his legal expertise numerous times, including receiving the Kentucky Farm Bureau Distinguished Counsel Award (2007) and the Kentucky Defense Attorney of the Year (2015). Chairman Schmitt has served on the boards of the Kentucky Council of School Board Attorneys and the Kentucky Defense Counsel and has been a judge in the National Trial Court Competition.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Kentucky.
Vice Chairman, Kentucky Public Service Commission
Robert J. Cicero was appointed to the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) by Governor Matthew Bevin on April 26, 2016. He was named vice chairman on June 22, 2016. Vice Chairman Cicero was reappointed on July 1, 2016, and his term expires June 30, 2020.
Prior to joining the PSC, Vice Chairman Cicero was a small business owner and a business executive. He is co-owner of High Performance Coolers LLC, a wholesale distribution company in Florence, and previously was co-owner of a small medical research company. In 2006, Vice Chairman Cicero retired from Aristech Acrylics LLC, where he served nearly 10 years as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. He previously worked 20 years for US Steel Corporation and its affiliates in various managerial and financial capacities.
Vice Chairman Cicero is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and serves on it Committee on Gas. He is a member of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners.
He attends St. Paul Church in Florence, KY.
Vice Chairman Cicero holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh and has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting.
Commissioner, Kentucky Public Service Commission
Talina R. Mathews, Ph.D., was appointed to the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) by Gov. Matthew Bevin on July 3, 2017. Her term expires June 30, 2021.
Immediately prior to her appointment as commissioner, Dr. Mathews was the executive director of the PSC. She had previously served the PSC as a policy advisor and as staff economist. Commissioner Mathews also has served Kentucky as an economist in the state Office of Energy Policy, as executive director of the Governor’s Office of Energy Policy, and in the Department for Energy Development and Independence as director of the Division of Energy Generation, Transmission and Distribution.
In addition to nearly two decades of government service, Commissioner Mathews has worked in the private sector with an engineering consulting firm and served as the director of member services and advocacy at the Organization of MISO States. She has held several adjunct teaching positions in economics and public policy.
Commissioner Mathews is a member of the National Association of Utility Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) and serves on its board of directors, as co-vice chair of the Committee on Electricity, and as a member of the Committee on Critical Infrastructure and the Subcommittee on Clean Coal and Carbon Management. She is president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, president of the Organization of PJM States, a member of the Board of Directors of the Organization of MISO States, and a member of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners. Commissioner Mathews serves on the advisory board of the Financial Research Institute at the University of Missouri and the advisory council of the Center for Public Utilities at New Mexico State University.
Commissioner Mathews earned a Doctor of Philosophy and a Master of Arts in economics from the University of Kentucky. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and mathematics from Berea College.