Director for Telecom and Water
Jeff McNelly is the Director of Telecom and Water for the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
Steve Mitnick is Editor-in-Chief of Public Utilities Fortnightly and President of Lines Up, Inc.
PUF: How did your career lead you to this role?
Jeff McNelly: When I got out of college, I worked for the state Department of Environmental Protection monitoring water quality on lakes and ponds. I coordinated that for a couple of seasons. Then I worked for Camden Rockland Water Company, which is now attempting to be part of San Jose Water Company through Connecticut Water Service Company.
I worked there for sixteen years, with water quality and water treatment, and doing administrative work as well. Then I worked for twenty-two years as Executive Director of the Maine Water Utilities Association, which is a membership trade group, representing and advocating for the water utilities.
In Maine, there are approximately two thousand public water systems, there are three hundred and seventy-five community water systems and the water utilities we regulate are a subset of the community water systems.
PUF: What are the central water issues?