Tom Sloan

A longtime Douglas County lawmaker recently received one of the top national awards from the U.S. electricity industry.

Tom Sloan, who served 24 years in the Kansas House of Representatives as a member of the Douglas County delegation, received last week the Jan Brinch Award for Collaboration in the Public Interest from the National Council on Electricity Policy.

During his tenure as a representative for the 45th District, Sloan gained a national profile as a policy maker for a variety of energy and utility reform measures, including working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and others on improving the transmission grid to bring renewable energy from western Kansas to other parts of the country.

The award from the national council recognizes leaders who have given long service to bringing people together to accomplish public interest goals in the U.S. electricity sector. In its award, the council cited Sloan’s past work with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee, along with several other national task forces related to energy and telecommunication.