COLETTE D. HONORABLE, CHAIRMAN
ARKANSAS PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Colette D. Honorable was designated Chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission by Governor Mike Beebe in January 2011. She was appointed to the Arkansas Public Service Commission by Governor Beebe in October 2007, and designated interim Chairman in 2008. Honorable is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas and is a graduate of Memphis State University. She obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law.

Prior to her gubernatorial appointments, Honorable served as Chief of Staff for Attorney General Mike Beebe. She worked in the Attorney General’s Office for over five years, serving as an assistant attorney general in the Consumer and Civil Litigation Departments, and as senior assistant attorney general in Medicaid Fraud. Her previous work experience includes serving as Executive Director of the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board, as a staff attorney at the Center for Arkansas Legal Services, as a judicial law clerk at the Arkansas Court of Appeals and as an assistant public defender.

Chairman Honorable has practiced law for over fifteen years and is licensed to practice in the Arkansas state courts, in the United States District Courts of Arkansas, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Honorable has litigated before all of these courts, including state and federal jury trial litigation and state and federal appellate work. She has also served as a special judge in Pulaski County Circuit Court and has served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law.

Chairman Honorable is First Vice President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), serves on the Audit and Investment Committees of NARUC, and is a member of the Committees on Gas, Consumer Affairs and the Utility Market Access Subcommittee. She also serves on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. Honorable is a member of the Advisory Council of the New Mexico State University Center for Public Utilities, President of MARC and a member of SEARUC. Honorable was appointed by the Department of Transportation Secretary to the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee and serves on NARUC’s Pipeline Safety Task Force. She has served as NARUC Second Vice President and Treasurer, and previously served on NARUC/White House Smart Grid Working Group and the Smart Grid Collaborative, a joint effort of NARUC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). She was honored to serve as national spokeswoman for the Anybody Can Serve, So Let’s Conserve energy efficiency and conservation campaign.

Honorable’s honors include receiving the 2012 Outstanding Public Service Award from the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law, being named one of AY’s 2010 “Powerful Women,” Arkansas Business’s "Top 40 Under 40" in 2006; and she is a recipient of the 2007 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Legacy Award from the Central Arkansas Sphinx Foundation.