SPRINGFIELD (Jan. 22, 2018) — Gov. Bruce Rauner has appointed two new Illinois Commerce Commission members.
They are D. Ethan Kimbrel and Anastasia Palivos, both of whom have law degrees and current or former employment experience with the commission, which regulates public utilities and oversees intrastate commercial transportation safety and consumer protection programs.
“Ethan and Anastasia understand very well the vital role of the ICC in balancing the interests of consumers and service providers to ensure adequate, reliable, affordable public utilities in Illinois,” Rauner said. “They also know how the commission works and will be able to contribute positively from Day One as commissioners.”
Kimbrel received a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Chicago and earned his law degree at George Washington University National Law Center. He has been an administrative law judge for the ICC since 2007, and its chief administrative law judge since April 2015. Kimbrel is the first African-American to hold the chief administrative law judge position in the commission’s history.
Prior to that, he served in a variety of legal roles for Chicago law offices and corporations. His work history also includes time as a legislative analyst for the Office of the Illinois Senate President in the late 1990s and as a judicial law clerk for the Illinois Appellate Court in Chicago in the early 2000s.
Palivos graduated magna cum laude from DePaul University, with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. She later earned her law degree there as well. She was the ICC’s legal and policy adviser to the chairman from April 2015 to July 2016, advising the chairman on all docketed matters before the commission and spearheading policy efforts on technology innovation in the regulatory space. More recently, Palivos worked as a business development strategy analyst for a Chicago-based health intelligence firm.
Her experience also includes a summer legal clerkship with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and volunteer service at the Domestic Violence Courthouse in Chicago.
Commissioners serve five-year terms. Kimbrel and Palivos, both of Chicago, replace outgoing commissioners Sherina Maye Edwards, who resigned Dec. 6, and Miguel Del Valle, whose term expired Jan. 15.