Paul Roberti
Paul Roberti was sworn in as PHMSA’s Chief Counsel on March 27, 2018 by U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Previously, he was an Executive Director at Ernst & Young (EY) where he was a member of the firm’s Advisory practice specializing in power and utilities. In addition to serving clients across North America, he was a member of a select team that provided strategic advice to clients navigating Mexico´s historic energy reform measures in the power and natural gas sectors.
Prior to EY, he served seven years as a Commissioner on the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, after being appointed by the Governor and unanimously confirmed by the Senate. As Commissioner, he was responsible for regulating the rates, charges and practices of the State’s electric, gas, water and telecom utilities. During that period, he served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Pipeline Safety at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), where he also served as Chairman of the Pipeline Safety Task Force and Vice Chairman of the Committee on Gas. He was a member of the Board of Directors at NARUC and the National Regulatory Research Institute. In 2016, he received NARUC’s “Terry Barnich” Award for recognition of his international service for advising the nations of Moldova, Georgia, Nigeria, India, Jamaica and Mexico on energy policy.
Mr. Roberti served two terms on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee after being appointed by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. He was also a member of the Public Interest Advisory Committee at the Gas Technology Institute, and Chairman of the Advisory Committee at New Mexico State University’s Center for Public Utilities.
Before his role as Commissioner, he served as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Regulatory Division at the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, having served four consecutive administrations over the course of seventeen years, where he was responsible for energy and public utility matters at both the State and Federal level. Before the Attorney General’s Office, he was engaged in the private practice of law. He was a Law Clerk to Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Donald F. Shea, after graduating from Suffolk University School of Law. He received a Chemistry degree from the College of the Holy Cross.
Mr. Roberti was admitted as a member to the Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida, U.S. District Court and U.S. Court of Appeals (1st and D.C. Circuits). He resides in Rhode Island with his wife and three children.