AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage has tapped former Maine Public Utilities Commission Chairman Thomas Welch to serve another term on the regulatory panel.

If confirmed, Welch would join Commissioners Vendean Vafiades and David Littell. He’ll appear before the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology in the upcoming weeks.

Welch served as chairman of the MPUC from 1993 to 2005 and played a leading role in the adoption of incentive regulation for Maine’s telephone utility. Prior to that, he served as a law school professor, chief deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania’s antitrust division and in-house counsel for Bell Atlantic.

Welch will fill a slot vacated by Commission Chairman Jack Cashman, who has submitted his letter of recommendation. Cashman has served since 2008.