THE REGULATOR | Katrina Tew

Like many women her age, Katrina Tew, 33, is working full time while planning her wedding. But unlike any women her age, Tew is a member of Florida’s Public Service Commission.

An expert in such complex matters as electric industry restructuring, the telecommunications industry and nuclear energy matters, Tew is the youngest member of the statewide board that develops regulatory policy for issues involving energy, water and telecommunications.

Growing up, she never envisioned herself working for the Public Service Commission.

“I didn’t think I wanted to grow up and become a regulator,” she said.

But when she applied for and got a job, she began to realize how much she loved policy work.

“After I got here, I grew more and more interested in these issues,” she said. “I saw a lot of opportunities to try and make Florida a better place.”

Tew worked her way up from researching issues surrounding the electric industry to serving as the Public Service Commission’s primary liaison on all nuclear energy matters. She started managing the State Liaison Section of the commission’s Division of Policy Analysis & Intergovernmental Liaison. State and local government agency personnel who needed her expertise on utility-related policy issues would consult with her. Tew then served as chief adviser to two Public Service Commission members before being appointed herself by Gov. Jeb Bush for a four-year term beginning in January of this year.

Although being a commissioner “is tougher because I’m now directly accountable for our decisions and there (are) more restrictions on what I can say and do in this role, it’s rewarding to be able to effectuate needed changes and to promote good public policy outcomes,” she said.

One program Tew is actively a part of is the Florida Lifeline/Link-Up initiative, which allows low-income consumers to apply for reduced telephone rates. “We are always trying to get the word out,” she said.

When she’s not working, Tew loves to travel, especially in Florida.

“There’s still a lot of Florida I haven’t seen . . . there’s so much history here,” she said.

Tew also recently started mentoring a student at Godby High School with the Take Stock in Children program and, of course, planning her wedding to Kevin McMurrian, field director for the Suwannee River Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. – Tabitha Yang