Kathleen O'Leary is senior vice president Energy Distribution Regulated Revenue for NiSource Inc. She is responsible for state regulatory and legislative strategy energy supply services large customer relations and gas transportation services across the nine states where NiSource's energy distribution companies operate.
O'Leary began her energy career in 1978 as attorney for Columbia Gulf Transmission Company in Houston. She was named director of federal government affairs in 1984 and represented the former Columbia Gas System local distribution companies in Washington D.C. during passage of the landmark Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and the National Energy Policy Act of 1992.
She worked in various government affairs roles for the Columbia Gas System and was named vice president of Public Affairs for the Columbia pipelines in 1996. She assumed additional responsibility for leading the pipeline Human Resources functions in 2000. In 2001 she was named senior vice president of Human Resources and Public Affairs with responsibility for the NiSource pipelines and the NiSource exploration and production company. She was named president of Columbia Gas of Virginia in 2003 and assumed her current position in 2005.
O'Leary has served as chairman of the National Energy Resources Organization the American Gas Association's pipeline safety task force and the Women in Utilities National Conference. She is a member of the bar in the District of Columbia and Texas.
O'Leary earned a bachelor's degree in political science from St. Michael's College in Colchester Vt. and her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in New Orleans. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Michael's College in 2006. |