About the Commissioners

Jehmal T. Hudson* – Judge Hudson is serving in his first term at the Virginia State Corporation Commission. In this role, he is one of three Commissioners regulating utilities, insurance, state-chartered financial institutions, securities, retail franchising, and the newly enacted Virginia Health Benefit Exchange.

Prior to being elected to the Commission, Judge Hudson was Vice President of Government Affairs at the National Hydropower Association. He was a regulatory practitioner for 10 years managing public policy issues at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where he held several roles including Director of Government Affairs. In that role, he worked closely with attorneys and policymakers to carry out the agency’s mission to assist consumers in obtaining reliable, safe, secure, and economically efficient energy services at a reasonable cost through appropriate regulatory and market means, and collaborative efforts.

Judge Hudson currently serves as the second vice president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). In January 2024, Judge Hudson was appointed as chair of the Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment. In July 2024, Judge Hudson was appointed as a member of the NARUC Executive Committee, and he is also a member of the NARUC Board of Directors. Previously, Judge Hudson chaired the NARUC Select Committee on Regulatory and Industry Diversity from December 2021 until January 2024. Regional leadership includes serving as President of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners and as the Virginia member of the Organization of PJM States, Inc. He also serves on the Advisory Council of the Electric Power Research Institute.

Judge Hudson earned his B.A. from Adelphi University, his J.D. from Vermont Law School, and his LL.M. in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Samuel T. Towell – Judge Towell is serving his first term at the Virginia State Corporation Commission after his election by the General Assembly in 2024.

Prior to being elected to the Commission, Judge Towell was Associate General Counsel for Litigation at Smithfield Foods, Inc. Previously, he served for five years as Virginia's Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation. In that role, he supervised the Insurance & Utilities Regulatory Section which appears before the SCC, the Consumer Protection Section, and the Office of Civil Rights, among others.

Judge Towell also served as the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry under Governor Terence R. McAuliffe and as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Finance under Governor Mark R. Warner. In the private sector, Judge Towell was a litigation attorney with McGuireWoods LLP and Williams Mullen, P.C. He also served as a judicial clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Judge Towell earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with a Minor in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law. He lives in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond with his wife and daughter.

Kelsey A. Bagot – Judge Bagot is serving her first term at the Virginia State Corporation Commission after her election by the General Assembly in 2024.

Prior to being elected to the Commission, Judge Bagot was a Senior Attorney at NextEra Energy, Inc. Previously she served as Legal Advisor to Commissioner Mark C. Christie at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Judge Christie served on the SCC for almost 17 years before joining FERC.

Judge Bagot also served as a trial attorney at FERC as well as an associate at Troutman Sanders LLP and Van Ness Feldman LLP in Washington, D.C.

Judge Bagot earned her Bachelor’s Degree from American University and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.