The New Jersey State Bar Association’s Public Utility Law Section presented Stefanie A. Brand with its James R. Lacey Award today.
The award recognizes individuals who have made major contributions or provided service to public utility regulation in New Jersey or the section, said T. David Wand, chair of the Section. The award was presented at the Section’s Winter Workshop virtual program.
Brand was the longtime director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel. She retired this summer after nearly 14 years as an advocate fighting rising utility bills. Prior to that role, Brand worked on environmental issues in the Division of Law in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
Brand said she was overwhelmed by the award.
“You are my peers and the people every single day I worked with. This just means everything to me. I am extremely proud of how far rate counsel has come. The work of rate counsel will continue and will only continue to get better… and be a force going forward,” she said.
“My successes are not mine. My successes are built on the shoulders of everyone I worked with, and I am forever grateful," Brand added.
Brand’s honor is well deserved, said section member Paul Flanagan who worked closely with her for many years. She was a force in expanding the range of the office and built alliances and enhanced the division’s reputation as an honest broker that garners wide respect. When she joined the office, issues like green energy were not prominent but have now risen to be critical for the division and state.
“To juggle all of that has been done masterfully” by Brand, he said.
Brian Lipman, the current director of the division, said Brand improved the department, nurtured employees and has left an important legacy on the state offering a deep well of information and guidance in both her professional and personal capacity.
“She is a consummate professional. No matter what I asked her she always had something helpful to answer," he said.