Jason Bostic
Vice President of the West Virginia Coal Association
From a family of generations of coal miners, Jason worked in
the mining industry as an apprentice miner through college.
A native of Cabin Creek, West Virginia and a graduate of
West Virginia Institute of Technology, Jason began his career
with the West Virginia Coal Association as a student intern
in 1998. In 2000, he was hired as a full-time regulatory affairs
specialist. In 2003, he was promoted to vice president with
primary responsibility for all state and federal environmental
affairs. In his current position, he coordinates the activities of
the Coal Association’s Environmental-Technical Committee.
He also serves as the primary contact with state and federal
environmental regulators and Congress, as well as the West
Virginia Legislature on environmental legislation related to the
coal industry. Jason serves as a gubernatorial appointment to
the West Virginia Special Committee on Post-Mining Land Use,
is a member of the West Virginia Mine Drainage Task Force and
an advisory board member of the West Virginia Water Research
Institute.
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Jim Cookman
President & Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Wind Force, LLC
Jim is a principal and member of the board of directors of
US Wind Force (USWF), having joined the company in August
2002 as VP of Project Development and now having served in
his current capacity as President and Chief Operating Officer
since December 2009. His responsibilities include all phases
of project development including landowner, community and
government relations.
Prior to joining USWF, Mr. Cookman was involved in a diverse
variety of business enterprises. Throughout his years as an
entrepreneur, he has been involved in such diverse fields as
insurance, finance, real estate, broadcast communications
and the wireless internet business. In addition to his day-today
business activities, Mr. Cookman has remained an active
member of his community. He is involved in political activities
at the local, state, and national levels. He has held appointed
positions under three West Virginia governors having served
as a member of the West Virginia Aeronautics Commission and
the West Virginia Lottery Commission. Additionally, he currently
serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Summit Financial
Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMMF), a financial holding company with
$1.6 billion in assets, based in Moorefield, West Virginia. Through
its subsidiary companies, the Summit provides community
banking and insurance services through its 15 offices located in
West Virginia and Virginia.
At the onset of his tenure with US Wind Force, Mr. Cookman
was instrumental in assisting the company with its efforts to
encourage legislation, through the West Virginia legislature, to
establish tax equity for the wind energy industry when compared
with conventional forms of energy generation. The resulting
bill, HB2968, which was ultimately signed into law by former
Governor Bob Wise, set the stage for wind energy development
in the West Virginia. Additionally, Mr. Cookman has assisted the
company in identifying development opportunities, successfully
pursued land acquisition efforts and represented the company
in public and governmental affairs activities.
Mr. Cookman studied at West Virginia University, where he
earned an NCAA football scholarship. He was recruited and
coached by the legendary Bobby Bowden. He graduated from
Fairmont State University in 1976 with a degree in engineering.
Jim and his wife Cathy reside in Petersburg, West Virginia.
They have three adult children and one grandson.
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James W. Crews
Vice President of Northeast Development
for MarkWest Hydrocarbons
Jim Crews, who became Vice President of Northeast
Development for MarkWest Hydrocarbons in October 2011 held
various positions with NiSource Gas Transmission and Storage-
NGT&S (and its predecessor Columbia Gas Transmission)
from 1995 to 2011. Most recently he was Managing Director
of NGT&S’s Supply & Origination group and was responsible
for building the NiSource Midstream Services subsidiary to
provide unregulated gathering and processing services in
the Appalachian Basin. During his tenure at NiSource, he was
Director of Commercial Operations, Manager of Gas Control,
Manager of Marketing, Manager of Business Development, and
Engineering Supervisor. He has spent his entire professional
career in the energy industry. From 1982 to 1985 he worked at
Cabot Oil and Gas’ drilling and production division in Charleston,
West Virginia. In 1985 he moved to the nuclear power industry
and served as a field service engineer for Babcock and Wilcox
Nuclear Power in Lynchburg, Virginia. From 1987 to 1995 he
worked in engineering, storage, and planning for Washington
Gas Light Company in Washington D.C. Jim also served as
president of WVONGA in 2010-2011.
Crews received a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering
from West Virginia University and is a registered professional
mechanical engineer in Virginia and Ohio.
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Kurt Dettinger
General Counsel for the Office of Governor Earl Ray Tomblin
Mr. Dettinger was unable to attend the summit and his presentation was done by Rob Alsop, Chief of Staff to Governor Tomblin.
G. Kurt Dettinger serves as General Counsel to West Virginia
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and provides legal representation
and counsel to all units of the Governor’s Office. In his role as
General Counsel, Mr. Dettinger serves on the Consolidated
Public Retirement Board and the West Virginia Law Institute, and
as Chairman of the West Virginia School Building Authority.
Before he served as General Counsel to the Governor, Mr.
Dettinger practiced with the law firm Lewis, Glasser, Casey &
Rollins, PLLC, in Charleston, West Virginia where his practice
included representation of clients in the coal and natural gas
industries and investment banking institutions. Mr. Dettinger
is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Appeals
of West Virginia and the United States District Court for the
Southern District of West Virginia.
A native of Charleston, West Virginia, Mr. Dettinger received
his Bachelor’s in Business Administration at Marshall University
in 1996. He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the West
Virginia University College of Law in 2003, where he served as
associate editor of Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif.
Mr. Dettinger chairs the West Virginia Marcellus to
Manufacturing Task Force. He recently presented testimony
before the United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee at a hearing on the production of shale gas from shale
plates in West Virginia. He also presented on the evaluation of
local and national markets for marcellus ethane in August 2011
at the NGL and Shale Gas Infrastructure Summit in Pennsylvania.
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Cal Dooley
President & Chief Executive Officer
of American Chemistry Council
Cal Dooley is the President and CEO of the American Chemistry
Council (ACC), a position he began in September 2008. As ACC
president, Dooley will continue to redefine and strengthen the
chemistry industry by continuing member growth, advancing
advocacy at the global, federal and state levels and keeping ACC
the “gold standard” among trade associations.
ACC has been recognized as the leader in helping create the
most comprehensive shift in energy policy in the last 25 years.
ACC worked with members of Congress in passing legislation
that allows the drilling of natural gas in the Outer Continental
Shelf, and has also been lauded for work with Congress in
crafting a chemical plant security bill that is balanced. ACC’s
priority advocacy efforts focus on the issues of rail competition;
chemical site security; chemical regulation; and health,
environment and tax.
Prior to joining ACC, Mr. Dooley served as President and CEO
of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). He took over
leadership of GMA after serving as President and CEO of the
Food Products Association (FPA), which merged with GMA in
January 2007.
Mr. Dooley represented the 20th District of California as a
member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to
2004. He served on the House Agriculture Committee, as well
as the House Resources Committee. Mr. Dooley was a founder
of the New Democrat Coalition, an organization of centrist, progrowth
members of Congress dedicated to finding bipartisan
solutions to our nation’s problems.
As a member of Congress, he was a leader in promoting
a pro-trade agenda, and he was instrumental in securing
passage of Trade Promotion Authority. He was honored by the
Washington International Trade Foundation with its prestigious
Distinguished Service Award, and was twice recognized by
Consumers for Free Trade for his strong support for international
trade. Congressional Quarterly named Mr. Dooley one of the
House’s most influential “Power Players,” in recognition of the
breadth and effectiveness of his leadership in Congress.
Mr. Dooley is a former partner in Dooley Farms in California’s
San Joaquin Valley. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural
Economics from the University of California at Davis and, as a
Sloan Fellow, earned a Master’s degree in Management from
Stanford University.
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James Fawcett
Manager, Energy Efficiency & Consumer Programs
for Appalachian Power Company
James Fawcett is Manager-Energy Efficiency and Consumer
Programs for Appalachian Power Company (APCo), serving
approximately 1 million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and
Tennessee. Appalachian Power Company is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of AEP, an electric utility serving more than 5 million
customers in 11 states.
Fawcett joined AEP in 1990. He has worked in Customer
Service, Business Development, Regulatory Affairs and Demand
Side Management in various locations in West Virginia and
Kentucky. He is currently working in AEP’s Appalachian Power
Headquarters in Charleston, WV.
Fawcett earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing in 1987 and
a Master’s degree in Business Administration in 2000, both from
Marshall University. He has completed the Strategic Leadership
Program at The Ohio State University and is also a graduate
of Leadership West Virginia. He is a Certified Energy Manager
through the Association of Energy Engineers.
He has served and chaired numerous professional and civic
organizations. He currently serves on the board of Leadership
West Virginia and the Youth Ministry Council of Forrest Burdette
UMC. James and his family reside in Hurricane, West Virginia.
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John Felmy
Chief Economist
American Petroleum Institute
John Felmy is Chief Economist of American Petroleum Institute. His areas
of emphasis are the economic, statistical and policy analysis of the Institute.
This includes managing the production of the Institute’s weekly and monthly
petroleum statistics. He has thirty years experience in energy, economic and
environmental analysis. He received Bachelors and Masters in Economics from
The Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Economics from The University
of Maryland.
Felmy is a member of several professional associations including the American
Economics Association, the National Association for Business Economics and
the International Association for Energy Economics.
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Donald S. Garvin, Jr.
Legislative Coordinator
for the West Virginia Environmental Council
Don Garvin is currently Legislative Coordinator and lead
lobbyist for the West Virginia Environmental Council, a position
he has held for the last nine years. Prior to taking this position
he served three years as a member of the WVEC lobby team, and
has also served two terms as president of that organization.
Mr. Garvin is an active member of Trout Unlimited. He served
as secretary and newsletter editor of the Mountaineer Chapter
of TU from 1983 to 1998, and as chapter president from 1998
to 2003. In 1999 he was retained by Trout Unlimited to edit and
write major portions of the national organization’s “Advocacy
Manual,” which continues to be used as TU’s primary guidebook
on interacting with federal and state regulatory agencies.
In addition, Mr. Garvin is a board member of both the West
Virginia Rivers Coalition and the West Virginia Highlands
Conservancy.
From 1982 to 1998 Mr. Garvin was vice president and
field manager of Braxton Oil and Gas Corp., a family-owned
independent natural gas production company with offices
in Buckhannon, West Virginia. He attended Northwestern
University where he majored in journalism and worked in that
field prior to 1982.
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Randy Harris
Technology Director
Transgas
As a nuclear engineer, Randy began his career with the U.S. Department of
Energy, working on nuclear cleanup projects. Later he worked in the Director’s
Office of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown.
After retiring from NETL, Randy moved to Southern West Virginia to promote
advanced coal projects.
Randy began his employment with the Mingo County Redevelopment
Authority in 2007. He worked in concert with Redevelopment Authority
Director Mike Witt to identify and recruit coal technologies to Mingo County.
Through a series of fortuitous events, Transgas selected Mingo County as the
site for its coal to liquids project.
We are excited for Randy to be with us today to give us an update on the project.
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Jim Howe
Director of Government Relations for USEC, Inc.
Jim Howe is responsible for interacting with congressional,
state, executive branch, and nongovernmental interests on
USEC’s work in uranium enrichment and the storage and
transportation of spent nuclear fuel. His work focuses on the
state-of-the-art American Centrifuge enrichment plant as
well as leading edge storage technologies developed by NAC
International, a subsidiary of USEC.
Prior to joining USEC, Howe served as Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Homeland
Security. As the senior career official in the office, he oversaw all
aspects of the Department’s legislative and congressional affairs
operations during the 2009 presidential transition. Throughout
his two-year tenure he was responsible for the office’s dayto-
day activities and spearheaded a congressional outreach
initiative that reached hundreds of members and staff.
Howe retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in May 2008 following
27 years of commissioned service. He was a career cutterman
who served 11 years at sea, most recently in command of the
270-foot cutter TAMPA.
Howe’s last duty assignment began in July 2005, where as
Chief of Congressional Affairs he oversaw all Coast Guard activity
related to Capitol Hill. From 2003 to 2005, he served in the Office
of the Vice President of the United States as a Special Advisor
for Homeland Security, focusing on border and transportation
security issues.
He is a 1981 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where
he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Government. In 1991 he earned
a Master’s degree in Government from Harvard University
(Extension School). In 2002 he graduated from the Marine Corps
War College, earning a Master’s of Strategic Studies. Howe is a
graduate of the MIT Seminar XXI program and recently served as
Vice Chairman of the Editorial Board for the U.S. Naval Institute.
Howe is a native of Thomaston, Connecticut and is married to
the former Shira Lifchez of Columbia, South Carolina. The Howes
have five children and reside in northern Virginia.
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Major General James A. Hoyer
Adjutant General for the West Virginia National Guard
Major General James A. Hoyer assumed the duties of the
Adjutant General, West Virginia Joint Forces Headquarters-
West Virginia on February 1, 2011. As the Adjutant General,
State of West Virginia, he provides command guidance and
vision to the West Virginia Army and Air National Guard of more
than 6,000 citizen soldiers and airmen. He provides the overall
supervision of the day-to-day operations and management of
the readiness, fiscal, personnel, equipment and the real property
resources of the agency.
General Hoyer received his undergraduate degree from
the University of Charleston and was commissioned in 1983
through a joint Reserve Officer Training Corps program with
West Virginia State University. General Hoyer began his military
career in the West Virginia National Guard as a Cavalry Officer.
He attended the Special Forces Officer Qualification course and
spent more than 14 years with the 2nd Battalion, 19th Special
Forces Group. General Hoyer led the development of the West
Virginia National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, as well as the
Joint Interagency Training and Education Center and its Center
for National Response, which is a national-level operational
and training facility for critical infrastructure protection and
consequence response. General Hoyer’s most recent assignment
was Director, Joint Staff, West Virginia Joint Force Headquarters.
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Greg Kozera
Southern Appalachian Region Sales Manager
for Superior Well Services
Greg Kozera is the Southern Appalachian Region Sales
Manager for Superior Well Services located in Elkview, West
Virginia. He is also the current President of the Virginia Oil and
Gas Association. Greg has held positions in engineering and
management in the natural gas and oil industry for more than
35 years.
Mr. Kozera is a professional speaker and member of the
National Speakers Association. He retired from the industry in
2007 to become a full time professional speaker and author. That
retirement lasted less than a month. He soon realized he could
make a more positive impact and contribution to our country’s
energy future (and the future well-being of his grandchildren)
by staying in the energy industry.
Greg earned a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from West
Virginia University and a Master’s degree in Environmental
Engineering from Marshall University. He is also a registered
professional engineer.
Mr. Kozera is the author of two books on leadership and
numerous technical papers and articles. Greg is also a regular
industry and newspaper columnist. In addition to his work in
the industry, he is the assistant coach of the boys’ soccer team
at Charleston Catholic High School. His teams have made seven
state tournament appearances. They recently won their third
consecutive state championship.
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Charles R. Patton
President & Chief Operating Officer
of Appalachian Power Co., American Electric Power Co.
Charles Patton is president and chief operating officer
for Appalachian Power, serving approximately one million
customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. He has
authority for distribution operations and a wide range of
customer and regulatory relationships.
Previously, Patton was executive vice president – AEP Utilities
West, responsible for the distribution, customer service and
financial performance of AEP’s utility operating companies in
the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
From 2004 to 2008, Patton was president and chief operating
officer for AEP Texas, serving approximately 901,000 customers.
Prior to this, he served in numerous leadership roles focusing
on Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. In these roles,
Patton focused on community relations and public policy
matters. He was responsible for building and maintaining
external relationships with regulators, legislators, consumers
and other stakeholders who have an impact on AEP for public
policy matters in these states.
Patton has been active in state energy policy matters. He was
appointed by former Texas Gov. George Bush to serve on the
Texas Energy Coordination Council and the Interstate Oil and
Gas Compact Commission. Gov. Rick Perry appointed Patton
to the Texas Energy Planning Council, which was established to
advise the governor on energy matters.
Patton received a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College in
Brunswick, Maine, and a master’s degree from the LBJ School of
Public Policy at the University of Texas in Austin.
He has served and chaired numerous professional civic
organizations in the communities in which he has lived. Charles
and his family currently reside in Charleston, West Virginia where
he currently serves on the boards of the Governor’s 21st Century
Jobs Cabinet, the West Virginia Regional Technology Park, and
the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia.
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Delane Richardson
Vice President of Business Development
for Chemtex
Delane has been serving as VP of Business Development
for Chemtex since January of 2011. Prior to that time, she was
Director of Research and Development for the polyester resin
business of the corporate parent Gruppo M&G. Trained as a
chemical engineer, Delane was previously employed by Eastman
Chemical Company, where she served multiple facets of the
chemical industry. Her duties included marketing; research and
development; technical service; quality, environmental, and
manufacturing management.
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Ernie L. Thrasher
Chief Executive Officer & Chief Marketing Officer
of Xcoal Energy & Resources
Ernie Thrasher has more than 35 years experience in the
coal industry.
His coal experience began in 1974 working for a familyowned
mining company with operations in Maryland.
Thrasher held various positions in mine operations and mine
management through 1981.
Prior to forming Xcoal Energy & Resources in 2003, Thrasher
spent 22 years in various global marketing positions at Primary
Coal and AMCI.
Xcoal was the largest exporter of U.S. coal in 2010. In
addition to marketing U.S. coal to customers throughout the
world, Xcoal activities include the financing and development
of mining projects and related infrastructure projects.
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Adam Victor
President of TransGas Development Systems
Adam Victor’s career has spanned some of the most critical
times in energy history in the United States.
After graduating from Cornell University with an engineering
degree in 1974, his first assignment was with the Arabian-
American Oil Company in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where his
engineering expertise helped expand the newly discovered
oil fields in the Ar’ Rub Al’ Kahali Desert. His two subsequent
assignments were to Welkom, South Africa, with the Anglo-
American Mining Company working in its gold mines and
uranium plants, and then to Malawi with the Lonrho Mining
Company. During this time he completed his MBA from the
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
In 1981, Mr. Victor started his own company, Project Orange
Associates, which developed and operated an 80 megawatt cogeneration
plant in Syracuse, New York. It was known as the first
project in the United States to buy its reserves in the ground and
the first project to receive permission to import natural gas into
the United States from Canada.
When not working, Mr. Victor enjoys spending time with wife
JoAnn and four children and practicing Judo, a sport in which he
holds a black belt.
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