Sue Kelly’s primary challenge as leader of the American Public Power Association (APPA) is to guide the association’s efforts to influence the US Environmental Protection Agency’s power sector climate policy in a way that acknowledges the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining the financial health of public power. Prior to becoming president and CEO, she was APPA’s senior vice president of policy analysis and general counsel. In that capacity, she helped APPA and its members formulate energy policy and advocate for legislation before the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), in federal courts, and in other governmental and industry policy forums.

Before joining APPA, Kelly was a principal with the Washington, DC, law firm of Miller, Balis & O’Neil, PC. She assisted cooperatively and publicly owned electric utilities and their trade associations, as well as other governmental entities, with restructuring-related issues. Prior to that, Kelly served as the senior regulatory counsel for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), where she also served as a liaison between NRECA and industry groups.

In March 2008, Kelly was appointed to a one-year term on the US Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee, tasked with helping define a strategy for modernizing the country’s electricity delivery infrastructure. She assisted with the drafting of its final report, “Keeping the Lights On in a New World” (January 2009). In April 2010, Kelly was elected president of the Energy Bar Association. In November 2010, Public Utilities Fortnightly named her one of its “Groundbreaking Lawyers of 2010.”