Kathy L. Pape

Profile

Kathy is a member of the McNees Wallace & Nurick Public Finance, Financial Services, Public Sector and Government Relations practice groups. She provides counsel to state and municipal governments, as well as businesses in public finance, government funding, utility regulation, and partnership structures among state and local governments and business.

Kathy began her career with the Office of Consumer Advocate and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, which helped her to understand utility law and regulations from the inside out. After joining General Waterworks as a utility attorney, she practiced before 14 state utility commissions, litigating rate and acquisition cases, always focused on collaboration to find mutually agreeable solutions at the least possible cost for her client. When she became corporate counsel and manager of finance for American Water’s 13-state region, she combined her legal expertise in bond financings with financial and tax analysis and planning to enhance financial results. When she was recruited to Philadelphia Suburban Water as its Vice President, Treasurer and Rate Counsel, she helped to grow the company from a five-county suburban Philadelphia water company to the second-largest publicly traded water and wastewater service provider in the United States with a focus on attraction of the most cost-effective combination of debt and equity at the lowest costs, thus keeping customer rates as low as possible. In 2007, she was selected to lead American Water’s largest subsidiary, Pennsylvania American Water, and in 2011, was chosen to head American’s Mid-Atlantic Division, with additional responsibility for operations in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland.

Because her focus has always been that the customer comes first and she understood that the obligation to provide safe and reliable service at just and reasonable rates, the company won accolades from legislators and regulators during her 10-year tenure as President. She was instrumental in the passage of Act 11, which authorized fully projected test years, a wastewater infrastructure charge and the combination of water and wastewater capital and expenses; Act 12, which provides for fair market valuation of municipal water and wastewater systems; and Act 154, which defines combined sewer overflow (CSO) system assets as sewer assets and thus regulated by the public utility commission.

Kathy was instrumental in and has spoken extensively on American Water’s involvement in shale gas development to protect the environment while enhancing the local economy. She designed the strategy in cooperation with shale gas drillers and municipal officials to extend water into rural areas using a combination of public and private funding.

Kathy combines her legal and financial expertise and business acumen to find creative solutions to business issues for our clients.

Kathy speaks nationally on issues involving leadership, utility finance, infrastructure and operations. She has testified before state and federal legislative committees on utility finance, tax and infrastructure issues.

Kathy dedicates much of her free time to non-profit organizations and has chaired the Pennsylvania Business Counsel, the Foundation for Enhancing Communities, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association of Water Companies and is an active member of the Boards of the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Central PA Chapter), The Edinboro University Council of Trustees, the earth Conservancy and the Hampden Township Industrial Development Authority.

Kathy resides with her husband and black lab in Hampden Township and is the proud mother of three adult children and one perfect grandson.