Barry Smitherman is a fourth generation Texan appointed by Governor Rick Perry to the PUC on April 21, 2004. He was reappointed on September 13, 2007 and promoted to Chairman on November 14, 2007. Barry is a member of the State Bar of Texas, a member of the Governor’s Competitiveness Council, an ex officio board member of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), has been designated by Governor Perry as the Texas representative on the Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body (which advises the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on standards, fees, and other activities within the Western Interconnection) and serves as a representative member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC) representing the viewpoints of State utility regulators. (The mission of the EAC is to assist the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) in implementing the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and modernizing the Nation’s electricity delivery infrastructure.)

Barry grew up in Highlands, Texas; a working class neighborhood on the east side of Houston. He is a product of Texas public schools having graduated from Ross Sterling High School in Baytown. Barry continued his education at Texas A&M University receiving a BBA summa cum laude. He then received his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law while working at the State Capitol for (the late) Senator Lindon Williams. Afterward, he attended Harvard University where he received a M.P.A. and was awarded the first Joel Leff Fellowship in Political Economy by the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Before joining the PUCT, Barry spent 17 years as either a public finance investment banker or attorney working with state and local governments throughout the South, Southwest and Midwest. During this time he held leadership positions with several Wall Street firms including First Boston (now part of Credit Suisse), Lazard, and JP Morgan (and one of its predecessors, Bank One, where he was national head of the tax-exempt bond department). He is also a former prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s office and a former adjunct professor of public administration at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

He and his wife of 21 years live in Austin with their four wonderful children.