Saint Paul -- Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the reappointment of J. LeRoy Koppendrayer as chair of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

Koppendrayer, of Princeton, was first appointed to the Commission by Governor Carlson in January 1998 and named chair by Governor Pawlenty in 2003. Previously, Koppendrayer served four terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives, where he was an assistant minority leader and a member of the Regulated Industries Committee. He has also been a dairy farmer and an international agriculture consultant, a manager with the Fingerhut Corporation and a heavy equipment operator. Koppendrayer is appointed to another six-year term that expires in January 2010.

The Public Utilities Commission is comprised of five commissioners and regulates three cornerstone service industries in Minnesota's economy: electricity, natural gas, and telephone. It is the Commission's responsibility to ensure that vendors of these services provide safe, adequate, and reliable service at fair, reasonable rates.