Karl R. Rábago, an attorney and former electric utilities executive and federal Department of Energy official, has begun work this month as the new executive director of the Pace Energy and Climate Center, the interdisciplinary law and policy think tank at the Pace University School of Law in White Plains.
Pace officials said Rabago arrives at a pivotal moment as Gov. Andrew Cuomo”™s administration plans to change the way electric and gas utilities conduct business in the state. State officials will restructure the way utilities and energy companies sell electricity and interact with their customers. Efforts have begun to develop new policies to accelerate the deployment of new clean energy generation technologies, give customers more control of their energy use and reduce the emissions causing climate change.
“Karl Rábago brings a wealth of industry experience, academic credentials and government experience to the center,” said Richard L. Ottinger, dean emeritus of Pace Law School and founder of the Pace Energy and Climate Center, in a press release. “I am delighted he will be leading our team of experts as New York state engages in this exciting utility reform effort.”
Rábago previously served as vice president at Austin Energy in Texas and as a commissioner on the Texas Public Utilities Commission. He is a former regulatory affairs director for AES Corp., a Fortune 200 independent power producer based in Arlington, Va., and was deputy assistant secretary of energy for utility technologies in the U.S. Department of Energy.
Rábago holds master of laws degrees from Pace Law School, where he studied environmental law, and from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he studied military law, and is an honors graduate of the University of Texas Law School.
“I am thrilled to lead the Pace Energy and Climate Center and I look forward to working with Governor Cuomo and his outstanding energy team to build a better electric grid, modernize the way the Empire State consumes and produces energy, and protect the environment,” Rábago said in the announcement.
He succeeds Franz Litz, the center’s executive director from August 2011 to January this year, when he launched his environmental services business, Litz Energy Strategies L.L.C.
