State Treasurer Brad Briner hailed today’s decision by a Superior Court three-judge panel upholding his authority to appoint a member to the N.C. Utilities Commission.
“This decision affirms that the governor does not have ultimate authority over other duly elected members of the Council of State to carry out their roles and responsibilities as members of the executive branch,” Treasurer Briner said. “I was elected treasurer by people across the state to carry out the duties of this office. The judges, to their credit, carefully reviewed the matter, and properly found that the General Assembly is not prohibited from empowering the treasurer to appoint a member to the Utilities Commission.”
The treasurer nominated Donald van der Vaart to the five-member Utilities Commission in April. The appointment was confirmed by the House and Senate. His term is set to begin July 1. The commission regulates the rates and services of investor-owned public utilities, including energy, telephone and transportation services. Most recently, van der Vaart was chief judge and director of the Office of Administrative Hearings at the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings. He is a former secretary of the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Gov. Josh Stein challenged the treasurer’s newly granted appointment power. At issue was a new law passed by the legislature in December 2024 removing one of Stein’s three appointments and shifting it to the treasurer. Treasurer Briner filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit. He asserted that he was required by law to administer the statutory appointment power, and that he had a substantial interest in the outcome of the litigation because it will determine the scope of his statutory duties.