Michigan Public Service Commissioner Katherine Peretick and Illinois Commerce Commissioner Stacey Paradis elected to lead member organization
FRANKLIN, TN (April 25, 2025)—The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC or Coalition) elected Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) Commissioner Katherine Peretick as Chair and Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) Commissioner Stacey Paradis as Vice Chair. Alongside others on the executive team, Chair Peretick and Vice Chair Paradis will lead the organization in its call for action on a national integrated nuclear waste management program to remove and ultimately dispose of spent (or used) nuclear fuel currently stored at operating and shutdown nuclear plant sites across the country.
With extensive training in mechanical and energy systems engineering, a background in the public and private energy industry, and demonstrated leadership on an array of technical regulatory and policy issues, MPSC Commissioner Katherine Peretick brings a valuable perspective to the NWSC. Among her many leadership roles, those most relevant to the NWSC’s work include service on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Board of Directors, NARUC Electricity Committee, NARUC Subcommittee on Nuclear Energy, NARUC-National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) Advanced Nuclear State Collaborative, Michigan Nuclear Feasibility Study Workgroup, and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Advisory Council (Vice Chair). A member of the NWSC Executive Committee since 2023, Chair Peretick succeeds North Carolina Utility Commissioner Emeritus Kimberly Duffley as Coalition Chair.
“We must remain focused on spurring government action to reestablish a spent fuel program that ensures decades-old obligations are fulfilled and that electric customers are protected from unnecessary cost burdens,” said NWSC Chair Peretick. “Without a federal waste management program, waste concerns alone could impede potential new nuclear generation. I’m honored to lead the NWSC in its important work and encourage other states and organizations to join us.”
“With three nuclear power plants in Michigan, it is great to know that Michigan Commissioner Katherine Peretick was elected to lead the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition,” said Michigan Department of Attorney General Special Litigation Division Chief Michael Moody. “She will be a strong and knowledgeable voice on a national long-term solution for nuclear waste, which is now stored at individual nuclear power plants in Michigan and across the country despite electric customers having paid handsomely into a federal fund for its removal and disposal.”
ICC Commissioner Stacey Paradis succeeds Peretick as the organization’s Vice Chair and brings unique insight from more than 25 years of experience in government relations, public affairs, and non-profit management. Vice Chair Paradis’s experience and skillset will aid the NWSC in its critical engagement with federal, tribal, state, and local officials and numerous stakeholders to advance the organization’s mission. She also serves as co-Vice Chair of the NARUC Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment, as a member of the NARUC Subcommittee on Nuclear Energy, and on the NARUC- NASEO Advanced Nuclear State Collaborative.
“Illinois generates more nuclear energy than any other state, with Illinois electric customers having paid the most of any state into the federal Nuclear Waste Fund. That also means we have the largest inventory of used nuclear fuel and the most storage sites. With Illinois policymakers and other state leaders looking to revisit the value of nuclear generation, it’s more important than ever for NWSC to advocate for a safe, nationwide nuclear waste management program,” said Vice Chair Paradis. “I look forward to serving in NWSC leadership to support that effort.”
Chair Peretick and Vice Chair Paradis also recognized NWSC Chair Emeritus Kimberly Duffley, jointly stating,
“In leading the NWSC, Chair Emeritus Duffley admirably represented the interests of her fellow North Carolinians in the pursuit of something that all impacted Americans have long deserved—federal action to address key nuclear waste management issues. We thank her for her service to the NWSC and are thrilled to continue to work with her on these and other issues in her new capacity as Senior Director of Energy Policy and Legal Counsel at NARUC.”
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About the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC)
The NWSC is an ad hoc organization representing the collective interests of member state utility regulators, state consumer advocates, and other state officials; tribal governments; local governments; electric companies with operating and/or shutdown nuclear reactors; and other individual experts on nuclear waste policy matters. For over three decades, we have called for the U.S. Department of Energy to remove and ultimately dispose of commercial nuclear waste in accordance with federal law and contracts with electric companies. To learn more about the NWSC, please visit https://www.theNWSC.org. Follow the NWSC on X/Twitter: @NWSCoalition.
