TOPEKA - Today, the Kansas Senate Confirmation Oversight Committee confirmed Governor Laura Kelly’s nomination of Annie Kuether to a four-year term as a Commissioner on the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). Kuether’s term will begin immediately and expire on March 15, 2027.

A full Senate vote will be taken when the Legislature returns for the 2024 session.

The Committee also considered Governor Kelly’s reappointment of Andrew French to a second term, when his first term expires in March 2024. That confirmation was deferred until the full Legislature returns in January.

Kuether joins Commissioners Dwight Keen and Andrew French on the three-member board. She replaces Susan Duffy, who did not seek reappointment. Members are appointed by the Governor and serve staggered four-year terms. State law provides that no more than two of the three Commissioners may belong to the same political party.

Prior to her appointment to the KCC, Kuether served as a State Representative in the Kansas Legislature for 25 years, retiring in 2022. During her time at the Legislature, Kuether was a member of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee.

The Kansas Corporation Commission is a multi-faceted agency responsible for regulating public utilities including electric, natural gas, telecommunication and water companies as well as motor carriers, oil and gas pipelines and oil and natural gas production. The Commission’s headquarters is in Topeka with the central Conservation office in Wichita and four Conservation district offices located in Chanute, Dodge City, Hays and Wichita.