Michael S. Beer Vice President, Federal Regulation and Policy

Michael Beer was named to his current position in 2001. He has more than 20 years of experience in the electric and natural gas utility industry.

Beer began his legal career in private practice at the Decatur, Illinois law firm of Samuels, Miller, Schroeder, Jackson & Sly. He joined Soyland Power Cooperative, Inc., also in Decatur, in 1988 as Counsel. In 1992, Beer joined Illinois Power Company as an Attorney. He became Senior Attorney in 1995, and Director, Federal Regulatory Affairs in 1997. Beer left Illinois Power in 1998 to join LG&E Energy as Senior Corporate Attorney. He became Senior Counsel Specialist — Regulatory in 2000. While in Illinois, Beer also held faculty positions at Millikin University. In 1998 he was appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor of Business Law, and Adjunct Associate Professor in 1996.

Beer has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, and a Juris Doctor, with distinction, from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a member of the John Marshall Law Review. Beer has also completed the Executive Program on Leading Change through Organizational Renewal at Harvard University.

His professional/trade memberships include the American Bar Association, the Energy Bar Association (of which he is a member of the Board of the Midwest chapter) and the Illinois State Bar Association. While in Illinois, Beer served on the Macon County Planning and Zoning Commission and the Macon County Board. He was also a member of the Board of the Decatur Area Arts Council, and the Macon County Mental Health Center. Beer currently serves on the board of the Kentucky and Tennessee Chapter of the Volunteers of America.