From 1986-1996 Ms. Alexander was the Director, Consumer Assistance Division, Maine Public Utilities Commission. Barbara opened her own consulting practice in 1996 and represents state and national consumer organizations and state public utility advocates. Her areas of expertise include consumer protections to accompany the move to retail electric, natural gas, and local telephone competition, service quality performance standards for electric, natural gas, and telecommunications providers, low income program design and implementation, consumer protections for essential energy and telephone services, and consumer bill impacts and policies for rate design and policy mandates. She has testified as an expert witness in over 30 states before state utility regulatory commissions. Ms. Alexander graduated from the University of Michigan in 1968 and received her J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law in 1976. Ms. Alexander was one of the original national coordinators of Earth Day in 1970 and a founding Board Member of the Maine Women’s Lobby in 1978.