Kathryn L. Zerfuss

Kathryn L. Zerfuss was nominated to serve as Commissioner by Governor Tom Wolf on Sept. 20, 2022, and confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate on October 19, 2022. Her term will expire on April 1, 2026.

Commissioner Zerfuss is a highly regarded government affairs strategist, public servant, and trusted adviser who has spent the past 21 years advancing regulatory and policy issues with a concentration in education, workforce development, worker protections, tax fairness, victim rights, and the environment. As Commissioner, she upholds the mission of the PUC, and has made workforce development and diversity and inclusion hallmarks of her tenure on the Commission.

After working at the PA House of Representatives, at the PA Gaming Control Board, and at the PA Departments of Revenue, Agriculture, and Transportation, she joined the Office of Governor Tom Wolf in the beginning of his second term as a Deputy Secretary for Legislative Affairs. Among many of her key contributions in this position, she advanced the state's It's On Us initiative to combat sexual violence at postsecondary schools, secured Pennsylvania's first tax credit to help working families with childcare, and created the state's free school breakfast program that serves students in all public and private schools.

Commissioner Zerfuss is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), a non-profit organization dedicated to representing state public service commissions that regulate public utilities. She sits on NARUC’s Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment and was selected as co-vice chair of a NARUC-U.S. Department of Energy Task Force on Evolving Gas Infrastructure Planning. In this leadership role, Commissioner Zerfuss helps facilitate the discussion, review, and development of gas infrastructure planning as emerging technologies and decarbonization goals continue to evolve. Additionally, she is the PUC designee to the PA Environmental Quality Board.

Commissioner Zerfuss is only the ninth woman to serve on the PUC in its 87-year history. She currently serves with Vice Chair Kimberly Barrow making it only the fourth time two women commissioners have served concurrently.

An alumna of Elizabethtown College in Lancaster County, with a bachelor’s degree in political science, she lives in Mechanicsburg and is married with three children. She grew up in Tamaqua, Schuylkill County.

Shaping the Pennsylvania Clean Energy & Efficiency Workforce Future - Link to remarks given by Commissioner Zerfuss at a webinar sponsored by The Energy Efficiency Alliance, E2, the Sustainable Business Network and Sustainable Pittsburgh on August 16, 2023.