Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Courtney Hjaltman as Chief Executive and Public Counsel for the Office of Public Utility Counsel (OPUC) for a term set to expire on February 1, 2023. Hjaltman will begin serving at OPUC on December 19, 2022. OPUC represents residential and small commercial consumers in the electric, telecommunications, and water and wastewater utility industries in Texas. The Public Counsel oversees the overall operation of OPUC and leads OPUC’s representation of consumers in utility matters at state and federal regulatory agencies and courts.
Courtney Hjaltman of Austin currently serves as Deputy Legislative Director for Governor Abbott. Hjaltman has 16 years of state service, including experience as a Chief of Staff in the Texas House of Representatives and as a legislative staffer in the Texas Senate. She received her Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law. Hjaltman is also a graduate of the Governor’s Executive Development Program at the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She has been a member of Junior League since 2007, starting in Houston during law school and transferring to Austin upon relocating, and serves as a mentor at her church in Austin. Courtney and her husband enjoy spending time with their children and German Shorthair Pointer and often spend time in Sweden to visit her husband’s family and experience Scandinavian culture.