Donald M. Kreis
Assistant Professor of Law and Associate Director, Institute for Energy and the Environment
BA, Middlebury College, 1980;
MS, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, 1981;
JD, University of Maine School of Law, 1993
Phone: 802-831-1374
Email: dkreis@vermontlaw.edu
Biography
Donald M. Kreis joined Vermont Law School after a 15-year career in government, most recently as general counsel of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (NH PUC). At the NH PUC, Professor Kreis focused chiefly on energy issues, including the development of legislation and rules for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and New Hampshire's renewable portfolio standard. An experienced hearing officer, Professor Kreis was also involved in developing and overseeing statewide customer-funded energy efficiency programs, litigating and deciding rate cases, and resolving disputes arising under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978.
Prior to joining the NH PUC, Professor Kreis served clerkships with justices Caroline Glassman and Robert Clifford of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court as well as Justice John Dooley of the Vermont Supreme Court. He also served for three years as career law clerk to Magistrate Judge David Cohen of the U.S. District Court in Maine.
Professor Kreis began his career as a journalist, first with Associated Press. After working as a writer and editor at AP's national broadcast operations in New York and Washington, he joined AP's Northern New England bureau as a newsman based in Portland, Maine. In 1986, Professor Kreis became a staff writer with alternative newsweekly Maine Times, where his interest in then-roiling controversies about newly developed waste-to-energy plants first exposed him to questions of energy policy. He covered everything from baseball to permitting under section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
Active in the cooperative movement, Professor Kreis serves on the board of the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society (second largest food co-op in the country, with nearly $70 million in annual sales), where he was president from 2006 to 2009, as well as the board of the Cooperative Fund of New England. Among his academic interests is rural electric cooperatives and the influence of democratic control on the operation of such utilities.
Professor Kreis has kept his finger in journalism since 1995 as a freelance architecture writer and critic. He received an award in 2004 from the Vermont Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for outstanding contributions to public understanding of architecture and its role in the environment.
A resident of Norwich, Vermont, Professor Kreis is married to Dr. Jennifer Keller, chief of anesthesia services at Mount Ascutney Hospital. They met in 1990 while working aboard the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and have two terrific kids, Rose and Felix.
Prior to joining the NH PUC, Professor Kreis served clerkships with justices Caroline Glassman and Robert Clifford of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court as well as Justice John Dooley of the Vermont Supreme Court. He also served for three years as career law clerk to Magistrate Judge David Cohen of the U.S. District Court in Maine.
Professor Kreis began his career as a journalist, first with Associated Press. After working as a writer and editor at AP's national broadcast operations in New York and Washington, he joined AP's Northern New England bureau as a newsman based in Portland, Maine. In 1986, Professor Kreis became a staff writer with alternative newsweekly Maine Times, where his interest in then-roiling controversies about newly developed waste-to-energy plants first exposed him to questions of energy policy. He covered everything from baseball to permitting under section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
Active in the cooperative movement, Professor Kreis serves on the board of the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society (second largest food co-op in the country, with nearly $70 million in annual sales), where he was president from 2006 to 2009, as well as the board of the Cooperative Fund of New England. Among his academic interests is rural electric cooperatives and the influence of democratic control on the operation of such utilities.
Professor Kreis has kept his finger in journalism since 1995 as a freelance architecture writer and critic. He received an award in 2004 from the Vermont Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for outstanding contributions to public understanding of architecture and its role in the environment.
A resident of Norwich, Vermont, Professor Kreis is married to Dr. Jennifer Keller, chief of anesthesia services at Mount Ascutney Hospital. They met in 1990 while working aboard the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and have two terrific kids, Rose and Felix.
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