Executive Committee
Ashli Watts
Executive Committee – Chair
Ashli Watts is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and serves as Chair of the Kentucky Energy Planning and Inventory Commission (EPIC). Since joining the Chamber in 2012, she has held senior leadership roles focused on public affairs, business advocacy, and economic policy. Her work has included major legislative initiatives involving workforce, taxation, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and Kentucky’s business climate. Prior to joining the Chamber, Watts worked at the Kentucky Bar Association and the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. She brings to EPIC a statewide business and economic-development perspective, with a focus on how reliable, affordable energy affects investment, job creation, and Kentucky’s long-term competitiveness.
Jeffrey Brock
Executive Committee – Vice Chair
Jeffrey Brock is Vice President of Business Development for Alliance Coal and serves as Vice Chair of EPIC. His career has included coal reserve acquisition, mine development, major transactions, and business development across the coal industry. Brock brings to EPIC extensive experience in Kentucky’s coal sector, primary energy supply, fuel markets, resource development, and the economic considerations surrounding reliable electric generation. As a member of EPIC’s Executive Committee, he helps lead and oversee the Commission’s work.
Tony Campbell
Executive Committee Member
Tony Campbell is a longtime Kentucky electric utility executive who retired in 2026 after serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of East Kentucky Power Cooperative. During his career, he led one of Kentucky’s major generation and transmission cooperatives, with responsibility for electric generation, transmission, power supply, system reliability, and service to member-owned distribution cooperatives. Campbell brings to EPIC decades of experience in utility management, generation planning, fuel supply, transmission, reliability, and the electric utility model. As a member of EPIC’s Executive Committee, he provides senior utility leadership and an operational perspective on Kentucky’s long-term energy needs.
Wesley Cate
Executive Committee Member
Wesley Cate serves as Director of Business Development for NGL Supply Terminals Co., a diversified energy company with commercial operations and midstream assets across North America. He oversees the company’s North American terminal network and leads freight strategy and commercial negotiations with rail carriers, managing a transportation portfolio exceeding $150 million. With more than 18 years of experience across the energy sector, including midstream infrastructure, marketing, exploration and production, and land management, Cate has developed expertise in energy logistics, supply chains, and commercial strategy. As a former President of the Kentucky Oil and Gas Association, he brings industry leadership and a practical understanding of the infrastructure, transportation, and market dynamics that support economic growth and energy reliability.
Matt Ricketts
Executive Committee Member
Matt Ricketts is President and Chief Executive Officer of Crounse Corporation, a Kentucky-based company engaged in inland river transportation of coal and other bulk commodities. His work provides direct experience with the logistics and transportation infrastructure that connect energy producers, utilities, industrial customers, and markets throughout the region. Ricketts brings to EPIC expertise in coal transportation, river logistics, fuel supply chains, and the economic role of Kentucky’s inland waterways. As a member of EPIC’s Executive Committee, he contributes a fuel-supply and transportation perspective to the Commission’s statewide energy planning work.
Board Members
Nathaniel K. Adams
Board Member
Nathaniel K. Adams serves as General Counsel and Compliance Manager for North American Stainless in Ghent, Kentucky, one of the largest stainless-steel manufacturing facilities in North America and a subsidiary of Acerinox Group. He has also served as chair of Kentucky Industrial Utility Customers, representing major industrial energy users on the Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas and Electric systems. Earlier in his career, Adams served as Corporate Counsel and Assistant Secretary for Hecla Mining Company. He brings to EPIC the perspective of energy-intensive manufacturing and large industrial customers, with particular experience in electricity costs, utility regulation, competitiveness, and industrial investment.
Todd Case
Board Member
Todd Case is a Kentucky business owner with operations spanning coal, bulk-material transportation, river logistics, mining, and aviation maintenance. His companies include Todd Case Trucking, Case Dock, Case Coal Sales, North Star Operating Company, and Thoroughbred Aviation Maintenance. Through these businesses, Case has experience moving coal and other bulk commodities by truck, barge, and rail and operating within Kentucky’s energy-producing regions. He brings to EPIC a practical perspective on coal production, fuel logistics, transportation infrastructure, small and mid-sized business operations, and the economic importance of energy industries to Kentucky communities.
John R. Crockett III
Board Member
John R. Crockett III is President and Chief Development Officer of LG&E and KU Energy, whose utilities serve approximately 1.4 million customers in Kentucky and Virginia. In his current role, Crockett is responsible for matters involving state and federal government affairs, rates and regulatory strategy, stakeholder engagement, communications, economic development, and growth. He brings to EPIC extensive experience in regulated utility operations, energy policy, economic development, and the planning challenges facing a large electric and natural gas system.
Mark A. Gooch
Board Member
Mark A. Gooch is President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. and serves in senior leadership roles across Community Trust’s banking organizations. He is also involved in economic and industrial development organizations in eastern Kentucky, including the City of Pikeville’s Economic and Industrial Development Authority and the Big Sandy Regional Industrial Development Authority. Gooch brings to EPIC a financial and economic-development perspective, including experience with capital investment, business growth, and the infrastructure needs of communities and employers in eastern Kentucky.
Secretary John Lyons
Board Member
John Lyons serves as Secretary of the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and has spent more than three decades working on energy, environmental, and utility issues for the Commonwealth. During his state government career, he has held leadership positions including Director of Air Quality, Deputy Executive Director of the Kentucky Public Service Commission, Deputy Commissioner of the Department for Environmental Protection, and Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet. Lyons brings to EPIC extensive institutional knowledge of Kentucky’s energy and environmental framework, utility regulation, state government, and the interaction between energy policy, environmental requirements, and economic development.
Talina Mathews
Board Member
Talina Mathews is Chief Financial Officer of Big Rivers Electric Corporation, a generation and transmission cooperative serving three distribution cooperatives in western Kentucky, and also leads regulatory and legislative strategy for the organization. She previously served as Director of State Regulatory Policy at Southwest Power Pool, where she worked with state regulators and stakeholders across the regional transmission organization. From 2017 to 2021, Mathews served as a commissioner on the Kentucky Public Service Commission. She brings to EPIC deep experience in utility regulation, regional transmission, finance, and Kentucky energy policy.
Representative Suzanne Miles
Board Member
Suzanne Miles represents Kentucky’s 7th House District in western Kentucky and serves in House leadership. A native of Owensboro and graduate of Transylvania University, she has experience as a small-business owner and in congressional constituent services. Her legislative work has included issues affecting economic development, business, infrastructure, and Kentucky communities. Miles brings to EPIC a legislative and western Kentucky perspective and an understanding of how energy policy affects households, employers, local governments, and economic growth.
Keith Murt
Board Member
Keith Murt is President of Murtco, Inc., a Paducah-based mechanical and underground utility contractor serving industrial and utility customers across the southern and midwestern United States. The family-owned company provides industrial plumbing, HVAC, mechanical piping, utility boring, and related services and employs approximately 200 workers. Murt brings to EPIC the perspective of a Kentucky employer and contractor working directly with industrial facilities and utility infrastructure, including firsthand experience with workforce, construction, and infrastructure needs.
Secretary Jeff Noel
Board Member
Jeff Noel is Secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, where he is responsible for policies and programs supporting business attraction, job creation, investment, existing industries, and statewide economic growth. Before joining state government, Noel served as Whirlpool Corporation’s Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs and as President of the Whirlpool Foundation. He brings to EPIC a statewide economic-development perspective and direct experience with the energy, infrastructure, and site-readiness considerations that influence major business investment decisions.
Kevin Nolan
Board Member
Kevin Nolan is President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Appliances, a Haier company, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. He has spent decades in technology, product development, manufacturing, and executive leadership and previously served as Chief Technology Officer for GE Appliances and Qingdao Haier. As the senior executive of one of Kentucky’s largest manufacturers, Nolan brings to EPIC the perspective of advanced manufacturing, industrial electricity demand, technology investment, workforce, and the importance of reliable and competitively priced energy to major employers.
Matt Partymiller
Board Member
Matt Partymiller is General Manager of Operations for Solar Energy Solutions and has helped lead the company’s development since its inception in 2006. His experience includes the design and installation of renewable energy projects across Kentucky and surrounding states, including photovoltaic, solar thermal, and wind projects. He was also involved in founding the Kentucky Solar Energy Society. Partymiller brings to EPIC practical experience in renewable energy development, distributed generation, project deployment, and the opportunities and constraints associated with integrating new energy technologies into Kentucky’s energy system.
Caryl M. Pfeiffer
Board Member
Caryl M. Pfeiffer is a retired utility executive with more than 40 years of experience in energy, fuel procurement, environmental compliance, and electric generation operations. She retired from LG&E and KU Energy in 2021 after serving as Director of Corporate Fuels and By-Products, where she oversaw the procurement and transportation of fuel and reagents supporting electric generation and directed fuel-related regulatory activities. Earlier in her career, she held environmental leadership positions at Kentucky Utilities Company and Columbus and Southern Ohio Electric Company. Pfeiffer brings to EPIC extensive experience in generation fuel supply, utility operations, environmental compliance, and the practical economics of producing electricity.
Brian Weisker
Board Member
Brian Weisker serves as Senior Vice President of Power Grid Operations for Duke Energy, overseeing power grid operations across the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida. Previously, he led Duke Energy’s natural gas business, overseeing regulated operations, sales, delivery, and commercial functions. Weisker brings to EPIC more than 30 years of experience in electric and natural gas operations, energy supply, and grid reliability, including direct responsibility for Duke Energy’s Kentucky transmission and distribution system.
Senator Steve West
Board Member
Steve West represents Kentucky’s 27th Senate District. A native of Paris, Kentucky, he is a cattle farmer, real estate attorney, and business owner. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University and a law degree from Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law. West has served on the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee in addition to other legislative leadership responsibilities. He brings to EPIC experience in state policy, agriculture, land use, economic development, and energy issues affecting Kentucky communities and businesses.