Former Texas Land Commissioner Brings Energy Expertise, Texas Network, and an Entrepreneurial Outlook to Energy RegTech Startup
HData Announces Successful Completion of Joint Design Initiative with Boardwalk Pipelines
AUSTIN, TX - HData, the leading provider of regulatory data and analytics for the regulated energy industry, today announced the appointment of George P. Bush, former Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, to its Board of Advisors.
“HData has built a one-of-a-kind data resource and analytical platform that will elevate energy regulatory work in Texas and beyond,” said Commissioner Bush. “I am excited to help HData transform the way we manage and understand regulatory information in the energy sector–which will make the industry more efficient while also benefiting consumers and oversight.”
First elected as the 28th Texas Land Commissioner in 2014 and overwhelmingly re-elected in 2018, Bush worked to ensure Texas military veterans received benefits they have earned, provided oversight to more than $8.6 billion in investments for the benefit of K-12 public education and managed 13 million acres of state lands that generated billions of dollars for the Texas Permanent School Fund. Commissioner Bush and the General Land Office led Texas’ largest ever housing-related recovery effort following Hurricane Harvey, helping more than 60,000 victims rebuild their homes and their lives. During his time in service, Commissioner Bush also worked to save the Alamo and preserve the Shrine of Texas Liberty for generations to come.
In January 2023, Bush joined Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, a leading national law firm, as a lawyer and consultant and will advise clients on a wide range of complicated strategic and policy issues. Bush is a U.S. Navy veteran, having received the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his meritorious service, the co-founder of two private equity funds , and a former securities attorney, holding a law degree from The University of Texas at Austin.
The announcement took place at a special gathering of energy regulatory executives and investors at the Hilton Austin. As a member of HData’s Board of Advisors, Bush joins former FERC Chairmen Jon Wellinghoff and Neil Chatterjee; former Maryland Public Service Commission Chairman H. Russell Frisby; former C-suite executives of Southern Company, Colonial Pipeline, and S&P Global; and longtime leaders in energy regulatory data.
“Commissioner Bush’s appointment brings unparalleled leadership and expertise in the Texas energy industry to HData’s Board of Advisors ,” said Claire Hansen, Principal at Firebrand Ventures, which co-led HData’s seed capital round. “His participation opens a pathway to implement the HData Platform across the entire regulated electric, oil, and gas industry to both automate compliance and provide instant benchmarking and analysis.”
Joint Design Initiative with Boardwalk Pipelines
At the Austin event, HData also announced the successful completion of a Joint Design Initiative with Houston-based Boardwalk Pipelines. As part of the Joint Design Initiative, which culminated in December, HData and Boardwalk created a new solution for the analysis of gas pipeline customer contract data, allowing the gas transportation industry to instantly track contractual relationships across all federally-regulated gas infrastructure.
“Regulatory data, once made accessible, can inform and improve key decisions across the natural gas transportation business,” said Ben Johnson, Vice President, Rates & Tariffs at Boardwalk Pipelines. “Our work with HData allowed our team’s experts to work collaboratively with HData’s technologists, combine the right data with new sourcing and analysis tools, and create a new way to deliver insights in natural gas pipeline contracting to the professionals who need them.”
“HData’s work alongside Boardwalk Pipelines exemplifies our relational approach to bringing technology to energy regulation,” said Commissioner Bush. “Through this and future design initiatives, we are bringing energy business leaders and energy regulatory data together to solve longstanding challenges.”
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About HData
HData’s platform uses regulatory data to automate compliance and business intelligence for electric utilities, gas companies and oil pipelines. The mission of the company, founded in 2018, is to digitize the interface between the regulatory and private sectors by creating and scaling platforms that take advantage of digital reporting. More information on HData is at hdata.us.
