Alumna Heads Pennsylvania Utility Commission As Capable, Compassionate Leader
Jennifer Berrier ’02, Executive Director for the Pennsylvania Utility Commission (PUC), is certainly a skilled and capable leader. Her career path illustrates that.
Berrier came to the PUC with nearly two decades of experience in various roles at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. She was appointed by Gov. Tom Wolf as Labor and Industry Secretary in December 2020, and guided that agency through the challenges of COVID-19 and post-pandemic recovery.
As Executive Director for the PUC since September 2023, Berrier manages the day-to-day operations of the agency, which includes leading more than 500 employees: lawyers, engineers, accountants, communicators, administrative law judges, and more. Her oversight responsibilities include the safety and infrastructure of utilities, ensuring fair rates, and balancing the needs of both providers and consumers. She reports to five appointed commissioners who determine all the energy and utility policies in Pennsylvania.
“It’s a very dynamic government agency that has a lot of impact upon everyone in the state,” she said. “Every time you turn on the faucet or flip the light switch, that’s the work of the PUC. It’s gratifying to be part of an organization that ensures those systems can work. I am charged with being fiscally responsible and a good manager of people and processes.”
‘I Love Working With People’
Berrier came to York College as someone who was naturally “curious and wanting to know more about people.”
“I was always driven by the desire to help people and make things better,” she said. “Even from a young age, I knew I wanted to make things better and help people who couldn’t help themselves.”
Berrier began her studies as a humanities major. “Initially, I wanted to be like Indiana Jones and learn about anthropology, archeology, the arts, history, people, and culture. But I was often asked, ‘What are you going to do with that?’”
She later chose to study Political Science. “As a Political Science major, and someone not raised with money or advantages, I got to see how people struggle. I wanted to make the struggle less, to help or make it easier.”
After graduating with honors, Berrier took a year off before earning a J.D. from Widener Law School while working full-time. She started her career at the Department of Labor and Industry as legal counsel in labor and employment matters.
“I learned within the first couple of years that law was something I wasn’t passionate about,” Berrier said. “I liked public service, but that was not my calling. I had an opportunity to get into the administrative side of things, so I took off in a different direction and worked my way up through the administrative side of government.”
A changing PUC
With the federal government earmarking money for different ways to decrease carbon footprints, Berrier’s work at the PUC is evolving.
“It’s exciting to see what stakeholders are doing and future plans they have to deliver services in environmentally friendly ways,” she said. “With green initiatives, like electronic vehicles, we are hearing a lot about having that technology be part of everyday life. But the PUC must consider the impact on our grid. We have to be thoughtful with regard to increased stress on infrastructure and the consumers who are paying for these initiatives.”
Berrier thrives on this type of work – process improvement, efficiency, problem-solving, and putting out fires – because of her constant desire to “look for a better way to serve” and the education she received at York College.
“YCP’s liberal arts background, with professors asking engaging questions that really made you think about the bigger picture, helped me become a cultured leader who understands people, their backgrounds, and what motivates them,” she said.
