Commissioners

Chair Kumar P. Barve

Kumar P. Barve was appointed as Chair of the Maryland Public Service Commission by Governor Wes Moore in January 2026, to fill out a term ending June 30, 2028. He was first appointed in May 2023 by Governor Moore, to fill out a term ending in June 2024. He was later appointed to a new five-year term to begin July 1, 2024.

Prior to his appointment, he had served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 1991, holding leadership roles including Chair of the Environment and Transportation Committee, Majority Leader, and Chair of the Montgomery County House delegation. While in the General Assembly he worked on issues including environmental regulation, energy generation and conservation, and greenhouse gas reduction. Notably, he was the first Indian-American in the country to be elected to a state legislature.

As a legislator, Chair Barve was the recipient of the Casper R. Taylor, Jr. Award in 2023; Certificate of Appreciation from the Maryland Municipal League in 2007, 2010 and 2011; Maryland Super Star from the Maryland Municipal League in 2008; and Legislator of the Year from the Montgomery County Medical Society in 1995, 1996 and 2000.

Chair Barve serves as Vice Chair of the Select Committee on Industry and Regulatory Diversity, and is a member of the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

A graduate of Paint Branch High School in Silver Spring, Chair Barve received a B.S. in Accounting from Georgetown University. He is a resident of Rockville, Maryland.

(410) 767-8017

Commissioner Frederick H. Hoover

Frederick H. Hoover was appointed by Governor Wes Moore to the Commission in January 2026 to fill out a term ending June 30, 2029. He stepped down as chair of the Commission on January 12, 2026. He was first appointed to the Commission for a five-year term beginning on July 1, 2023.

He most recently served as Assistant People’s Counsel in the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, representing residential consumers of public utilities, retail energy suppliers and other entities before the Maryland Public Service Commission, courts and federal agencies.

Commissioner Hoover served for more than seven years as director of the Maryland Energy Administration, responsible for coordinating energy policy for the state of Maryland. He subsequently held positions as director of both MEA’s Division of Energy Programs and Division of Renewable Energy. He is a former senior director of the National Association of State Energy Officials, where he directed the electricity policy program including the fuel and grid aspects of both transmission and distribution networks including modernization, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

Commissioner Hoover was a founding board member of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, an organization dedicated to holding elected officials at the legislative and executive level accountable for environmental issues. He was a member of the Maryland Cybersecurity Council.

He serves on the Board of Directors for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Committee on Consumers and the Public Interest and the Committee on Electricity. He was recently appointed to NARUC’s Washington Actions Program, the group that represents NARUC’s interests before federal executive and legislative entities.

A resident of Annapolis, Maryland, Commissioner Hoover earned his law degree from the University of Baltimore, and a bachelor’s degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University. He also completed Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Education Program in Economics and Environment.

(410) 767-8073

Commissioner Bonnie A. Suchman

Bonnie A. Suchman was appointed to the Maryland Public Service Commission in June 2023 by Governor Wes Moore to fulfill a term that expires June 30, 2027. Commissioner Suchman was most recently the owner of Suchman Law LLC and has more than 35 years of experience in the energy field, representing clients on a broad range of issues including transmission policy and regulation, reliability and cybersecurity, cross-border transmission permitting, distributed generation, and renewable energy financing mechanisms.

Prior to opening her own law firm, she was counsel at Troutman Sanders LLP and was special counsel for electric utility restructuring at the Department of Energy. She had a principal role in the drafting of both the Clinton administration’s Comprehensive Electricity Competition Plan and the legislation implementing the provisions of the plan. She was also a senior attorney at the Edison Electric Institute and an associate at Webster & Fredrickson, a law firm representing the D.C. Public Service Commission.

Commissioner Suchman serves as a member of the Committee on Critical Infrastructure and the Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

A resident of Potomac, Maryland, Commissioner Suchman is a graduate of Bard College and the George Washington University Law School, and is a member of the D.C. and Maryland bars.

(410) 767-8116

Commissioner Odogwu Obi Linton

Odogwu Obi Linton was appointed to the Maryland Public Service Commission in 2017, reappointed in 2022, and again in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. He brings over two decades of leadership experience in energy policy, utility regulation, consumer protection, and regulatory law, with a strong focus on ensuring reliable, affordable, and equitable utility service for Maryland residents.

Commissioner Linton has served in multiple capacities at the Commission, including Director of the Consumer Affairs Division, where he led the development of comprehensive consumer protection regulations for Maryland’s competitive energy markets and managed the state’s Supplier Diversity Program to expand participation in utility supply chains. He previously served as Deputy Staff Counsel for the Commission, handling complex regulatory matters involving rate design, market oversight, and service quality standards.

Commissioner Linton was appointed by Governor Moore as the Commission’s representative on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission (WMATC). Nationally, Commissioner Linton has held leadership roles with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), including Chair of the Consumers and the Public Interest Committee, member of the Emergency Preparedness Task Force, and founding Chair of the Supplier and Workforce Diversity Staff Subcommittee. Throughout his career, he has moderated or participated in more than one hundred national and regional panel discussions, addressing a broad range of topics including ratepayer protections, energy affordability, climate policy, and small business market access.

Prior to his public service roles, Commissioner Linton practiced regulatory and energy law representing consumers, small businesses, and competitive suppliers. Earlier in his career, he served as regulatory counsel for Baltimore Gas and Electric Company and as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Evelyn Omega Cannon of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

Commissioner Linton holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, where he served as Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Health Care Law and Policy. He earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Administration of Justice and Africana Studies from Rutgers University.

Commissioner Linton resides with his family in Catonsville, Maryland.

Commissioner Ryan C. ‘Chuck’ McLean

Ryan C. ‘Chuck’ McLean was appointed to the Public Service Commission by Governor Wes Moore, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2025.

Prior to joining the bench, Commissioner McLean was the PSC’s Chief Public Utility Law Judge, and led the PULJ Division for nearly seven years.

He joined the PSC in 2008 as an assistant staff counsel. A former assistant county attorney in Carroll County, Commissioner McLean is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having served as a captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps.

A graduate of Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College), he received a law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

He lives in Baltimore County.