By Amanda Durish Cook

Arkansas Public Service Commissioner Lamar Davis has resigned to take a newly created position as executive director of government and regulatory affairs for MISO’s South Region.

Beginning Dec. 1, Davis will serve as MISO’s main liaison with state regulators, lawmakers and governors within MISO South, the RTO said Nov. 28. Davis resigned from the PSC effective Nov. 25.

Davis is the third former state regulator to join MISO’s staff since last year, following Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs David Boyd, who joined the RTO in 2015 after eight years on the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, and former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Andre Porter, who resigned to become vice president and general counsel in May. (See Former PUCO Chairman Andre Porter Joins MISO.)

“MISO is truly honored and excited to have Lamar join our team,” said Todd Hillman, vice president of MISO’s South Region. “We look forward to Lamar representing MISO South and the work we are doing to facilitate collaboration among state regulators, policymakers and stakeholders.”

Prior to his appointment to the PSC in January 2015, Davis served eight years as deputy chief of staff under former Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe. Davis was also an assistant attorney general in Arkansas’ Consumer Protection Division, taught consumer law at the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock, Ark., and served as a law clerk for the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

“These roles have afforded me the opportunity to work with countless public servants to serve the people of Arkansas, which has been very rewarding,” Davis said in a PSC statement. “I now have been offered a position in the private sector that will afford me the opportunity to champion policies to help advance the goals of our beloved state and region.”

Davis received his law degree from Bowen and a bachelor’s in political science from Dillard University in New Orleans.