Leadership
Ohio Consumers’ Counsel and Agency Director
Maureen Willis became the Agency’s fifth Consumers’ Counsel on Oct. 1, 2023. She previously served as Acting Legal Director starting in April of 2023. During the previous eight years, Maureen served as OCC’s Senior Counsel. Maureen specializes in the litigation of complex electric cases but has diverse legal experience and has served on cases across all utility industries. She has advocated for Ohio consumers in numerous appeals before the Ohio Supreme Court.
Maureen began her career at the OCC in 1982 as a legal intern and was hired as a Staff Attorney upon receiving her juris doctor degree from Capital University Law School in 1983.
Prior to earning her JD, Maureen graduated from the University of Dayton with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Maureen left Columbus and when she returned a few years later, she rejoined the OCC as an Assistant Consumer’s Counsel. In 2004, after time away from OCC, Maureen returned to OCC at the request of the third Consumers’ Counsel. In her time away from OCC, Maureen continued to practice in the public utility field. Maureen worked for the Office of the People’s Counsel (the Washington, D.C., consumer advocate on utility matters); Hahn, Loeser and Parks; the Office of the Ohio Attorney General as Special Counsel; and the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.
Maureen was appointed the fifth Ohio Consumers’ Counsel by the OCC Governing Board on June 30, 2023.
In a press release issued on that day, Maureen said that “I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve Ohio’s residential consumers as the fifth Consumer’s Counsel. I will work hard to carry on the rich tradition of consumer advocacy that has been the hallmark of the Agency.”
Deputy Consumers' Counsel and Legal Director
Angela O’Brien was appointed the Deputy Consumers’ Counsel in June 2023, by the Consumers’ Counsel Governing Board. Angela is also Acting Legal and Analytical Director. She is one of the Board’s two appointees for leading the agency, the other being the Consumers’ Counsel (agency director). Her leadership initiatives include achieving justice, equity and regulatory reform for residential utility consumers, as stated in OCC’s Vision.
Angela has served Ohioans for four years as an Assistant Consumers’ Counsel. She was named an OCC Employee of the Quarter in 2022, for the excellence of her regulatory case work on behalf of consumers. From 1998 to 2010, Angela was in the private practice of law. She worked for 10 years at Mayer Brown in Chicago. Earlier, she worked for Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis. Her work at both firms included representing telephone companies and competitive energy suppliers, appearing before state public utility commissions in Indiana and Illinois. In 2015, Angela and her family moved from Chicago to the Columbus, Ohio area. Angela earned her B.A. from the University of Houston and her J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law.
Operations Director
Susan Loe serves Ohioans as the Director of the Operations Department. OCC’s Operations Department manages human resources, information technology, and budget and fiscal matters. Susan joined the Agency in September 2021. Prior to joining OCC, Susan held positions in HR/Fiscal Management at the State Medical Board and the Ohio Ethics Commission. She also previously held Chief of Staff and administrative positions in private sector law firms for more than a decade. Susan earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Franklin University, with a dual major in Business Management and Human Resources Management. Susan also received her Ohio Certified Public Manager (OCPM) certification from Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs and is a graduate of the Ohio Fiscal Academy and the Office of Collective Bargaining Academy.
Public Affairs Director