Gov. Jay Inslee appointed David W. Danner chairman of the Utilities and Transportation Commission in February 2013.

Danner had been the agency’s executive director since 2005 and secretary since 2008. Before that, he served as executive policy advisor to Washington Gov. Gary Locke on energy, telecommunications, finance and elections issues. In 2004, Gov. Locke named Danner to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board and Shoreline Hearings Board, where he served before moving to the commission.

Danner has also been a telecommunications attorney in private practice, counsel to the Washington Senate Energy and Utilities Committee, and senior policy advisor at the Washington State Department of Information Services. 

Danner serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and chairs its Committee on International Relations. He is a member of the State Technology Services Board, the Board of Directors of the National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI), and the Executive Council of the National Council on Energy Policy. He also serves on advisory boards of the Critical Consumer Issues Forum, the Center for Public Utilities at the New Mexico State University College of Business, and the Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic at the University of Washington Law School.

Danner has a B.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. in communications from the University of Washington, and a law degree from George Washington University.

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