Commissioner Cynthia B. Hall – District 1

P.O. Box 1269
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
(505) 235-8013

Personal Background

Cynthia has served as District 1 Commissioner and Vice-Chair of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (“PRC”) since January 1, 2017, following her election in November, 2016. She was elected in her wholly-urban district with a 15-point margin and a strong mandate to support clean, affordable energy. As a Commissioner, she initiated a successful rulemaking to require storage be considered as a resource in the Integrated Resource Planning process, and she supports market-based mechanisms that increase the use of renewable energy and reduce rates.

Cynthia previously served as associate general counsel in the PRC and as associate general counsel, hearing officer, felony insurance fraud prosecutor, and staff attorney in the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance. Previously, she served as assistant staff counsel in the New Mexico Public Service Commission, precursor agency to the PRC, and in the New Mexico Energy and Minerals Department.

Cynthia has worked in private practice in medical malpractice and tribal law, and as a corporate attorney in the general counsel’s office of Sandia National Laboratories, where she was the first woman attorney, and in the general counsel’s office of the United States Navy’s Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Western Division, which oversees naval facility construction and maintenance in eight western states. At both Sandia Labs and the Navy, Cynthia’s primary focus was environmental, land use, and regulatory compliance law. At the outset of her legal career, she was law extern for the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California, and law clerk for the Honorable Oliver Seth, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Prior to her law career, Cynthia worked as a research supervisor of multi-generational toxicology research at the Raltech Scientific Services Division of Ralston Purina Company, as a contract researcher in air and water pollution, and as ka research technician in neurochemistry in the Pharmacology Department of Washington University Medical School. Cynthia is a former board member and vice-president of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico and a former Bernalillo County Planning Commissioner. She founded and led two non-profit advocacy organizations, one achieving the public purchase of 96 acres of open space in Albuquerque and the other achieving a doubling of music and art elementary education in Albuquerque Public Schools. She holds a J.D. from Southwestern Law School, an M.S. in Physiology from St. Louis University, and a B.A in Biology from Washington University.

Professional Experience

• Hearing Officer/Associate General Counsel, May 2014-present, Office of the Superintendent of Insurance: Sat as Hearing Officer for all agency hearings and wrote recommended decisions (75 percent of time); represented OSI in state courts; served as Public Records Custodian.
• Prosecutor/Hearing Officer, May 2012-May 2014, Office of the Superintendent of Insurance: Prosecuted felony insurance fraud cases in state court. Additional duties as Hearing Examiner (50 percent of time), Public Records Custodian (20 percent of time).
• Staff Attorney, November 2010-January 2012, New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s Insurance Division: Prepared Superintendent of Insurance (SOI) orders on complaints, appeals and enforcement actions; represented Staff in hearings; drafted legislation and regulations.
• Associate General Counsel, November 2008-September 2010, New Mexico Public Regulation Commission: Advised Commission and prepared orders on utility, transportation, and telecommunications matters; handled rule-makings, Inspection of Public Record Act requests, and special projects.
• Associate Attorney, January 2006-October 2007, Chee Law Offices, PC: Provided legal services to eight Native American Housing Authorities in real estate, construction, employment, contracts, and corporate matters; lobbied New Mexico Congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.
• Attorney (1985-1994 and 2003-2005)
  • Regulatory: New Mexico Public Regulation Commission; New Mexico Regulation & Licensing Department; New Mexico Energy Minerals & Natural Resources Department
  • Corporate: Sandia National Laboratories
  • Military: U.S. Navy, Western Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command
  • Private Practice: Chee Law Offices, P.C.; Hall Legal Services; O’Conner, Cohn, Dillon & Barr
• Law Clerk (1983-1985)
  • Private Practice: Kellahin & Kellahin
  • Judicial: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; U.S. District Court, Central District of California

Education

• E.M.B.A. classes: 2010-2013 University of New Mexico, Anderson School of Management, Albuquerque
• J.D.: May 1983, Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles
• M.S.: Physiology January 1977, Saint Louis University, Physiology Department, St. Louis
• B.A. Biology: August 1973, Washington University, Biology Department, St. Louis

Community Involvement

• Member, Renewable Energy Industries Association, 2012-2015; Vice-President, 2013-2014
• Candidate, Democratic Primary Race for the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, District 1, January-June 2012
• Commissioner, Bernalillo County Planning Commission, 2006-2008
• Founder and President, Music and Art in the Schools (MAS), 1998-2000: This non-profit corporation lobbied the New Mexico State Legislature and APS to fund more arts education in elementary schools and achieved a 66 percent increase in art and music teachers in APS, doubling instruction time in two years.
• Founder and President, Anderson Field Alliance, 1995-1997: This non-profit corporation’s work for the public acquisition of 138-acre Anderson Field, now Los Poblanos Open Space, part of the City of Albuquerque’s Open Space, resulted in the voter-approved passage of a two-year 1/4-cent gross receipts tax to fund city-wide open space acquisitions and the purchase of over 1250 acres.
• Volunteer Instructor, Hands-On Science After-School Program, 1996
• Science Fair Organizer and Judge, Alvarado Elementary School, 1996-2003; Taft Middle School, 2004
• Science Fair Judge, Jefferson Middle School, 2003-2005, New Mexico Regional Science Fair, 2004-2005

Commissioner Hall’s Staff:

Collin Gillespie
Phone: (505) 235-8013
Email: Collin.Gillespie@state.nm.us

Cynthia B. Hall is the Commissioner of the 1st District of the Public Regulation Commission.

District 1 is shown as the purple area on the map below.

Press Releases