Burlington Electric Department General Manager Darren Springer today announced that Mary Peterson, a private practice attorney focusing on complex tax and regulatory issues and former Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Taxes, will join the leadership team at Burlington Electric as Manager of Strategy and Innovation in February. Peterson, a Burlington resident, serves on the Board of the Energy Action Network and on the Climate Economy Action Team of the Council on Rural Development and served for six years in the Vermont House of Representatives, where she was a member of the Ways and Means Committee, working on a variety of energy taxation bills.
“Mary is a top-notch manager and leader with a demonstrated commitment to public service, and she will be a great addition to our Burlington Electric team,” said Springer. “Mary’s background in law, finance, and regulation, along with her experience managing the Department of Taxes and spearheading a significant IT system transformation there will serve Burlington Electric and our customers well as we continue to work to keep rates stable and affordable.”
As the Manager of Strategy and Innovation, Peterson will lead Burlington Electric’s Center for Innovation, which includes the finance, information technology (IT), policy and planning, and sustainability teams. Her focus will include providing leadership for an ongoing business process improvement effort and multi-year technology and systems update.
While serving as Tax Commissioner, Peterson managed more than 150 employees and a $17 million budget to collect $1.5 billion in revenue from more than 600,000 taxpayers. Also while Commissioner, Peterson worked with the Vermont Department of Public Service (PSD), legislators, businesses, and advocates on evolving tax matters related to utilities and renewable energy, and she led the way in modernizing the Tax Department to create improved taxpayer service by implementing a new $30 million state-of-the-art IT system, creating a new policy and communications division, and reorganizing existing department divisions.
In addition to her legal practice at three firms over the years, Peterson served as Special Counsel to the PSD as a member of a six-person legal team responsible for litigating cases before the Public Service Board (now called Public Utility Commission). Peterson’s career has included leadership on the municipal level as well, including service as Chair of the Williston Selectboard and on the Board of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. Peterson is a 1985 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law.
“Mary is a talented leader, who has spent years working as a public servant to make our Vermont communities stronger,” said Tom Torti, President and CEO, Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce . “I am glad and not surprised to see that Mary is continuing her work in public service. Burlington Electric and the entire Burlington community are fortunate to be gaining Mary as a member of their team.”
“As a member of the Burlington community who appreciates Burlington Electric’s commitment to being 100 percent renewable, I am honored and thrilled to be joining such a talented team dedicated to serving our community,” stated Peterson. “I look forward to working with the BED team to transform and modernize our IT infrastructure and business processes, and on our vision to make Burlington a net zero energy city.”