William J. Froehlich

William Froehlich has been an adjunct professor at George Mason since 1978. He has taught Administrative Law and Procedure (GOVT 452) to undergraduates and Introduction to Public and Nonprofit Administration (GOVT 502) in the graduate school.

Froehlich has been a full-time administrative judge with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville, Maryland, since March 2008. He conducts administrative hearings arising under the Atomic Energy Act including enforcement proceedings, reactor license and license amendment cases, and contested materials licensing applications. The Atomic Energy Act requires that a hearing be held on every application for a construction permit for a nuclear power reactor and an opportunity to request a hearing on an application for a license to operate such a reactor facility.

Prior to his appointment, Froehlich was a member of the senior executive service at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). During his 32-year career at FERC he held a number of key leadership positions, including director of the Office of Administrative Litigation, special counsel to the Office of Enforcement, assistant general counsel for Gas and Oil Litigation and director of the Financial Regulation Division. Froehlich oversaw the agency’s trial staff in the adjudication of natural gas, oil pipeline and electric utility rate cases, the importation of liquefied natural gas, and the rates and charges for newly constructed pipelines. He played a key role in the prosecution of the Enron trading schemes and the negotiation of refunds to consumers arising from those schemes. In 2005, he represented the agency and the United States at the China Power International Energy Conference in Beijing.  He has also lectured and taught classes to senior government officials in Eastern Europe on the privatization of state-owned industries, public utility ratemaking, and the development of independent regulatory structures.

Froehlich also teaches at the International Law Institute (Washington, D.C.) and the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada (Reno).

He earned his undergraduate degree from Harpur College, SUNY at Binghamton (1972), and his law degree from Brooklyn Law School (1975).  He is a member of the New York and District of Columbia Bar.