Topeka ? The state commission that regulates utilities will have a new chairman soon.

Chairman Brian Moline announced Wednesday that he plans to retire June 15 after serving more than eight years on the Kansas Corporation Commission. He also was the KCC’s chief attorney for 10 years.

“Brian has been a strong voice for fairness and balance in an emerging market place,” Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

Moline, 67, is an attorney and represented a Wichita district in the Kansas House in 1967-71. He helped found Kansas Legal Services, which serves poor Kansans, and served as executive director of its programs in Wichita and Topeka.

He served as the KCC’s general counsel in 1979-85 and 1991-95.

Republican Gov. Bill Graves appointed Moline to the commission in December 1998, and he became its chairman in May 2003. Sebelius will name Moline’s replacement, subject to Senate confirmation.