Karen Lusson

Senior Attorney

Karen Lusson is a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) focusing on energy and utility affordability issues affecting financially struggling utility customers.

Karen is a contributor to NCLC’s treatise Access to Utility Service, and authored Protecting Access to Essential Utility Service During Extreme Heat and Climate Change. She also co-authored the Ensuring Consumer Protections in the Delivery of Energy-Efficiency Financing and Renewable-Energy Programs chapter in What’s Possible: Investing Now for Prosperous, Sustainable Neighborhoods and helped author the Water Affordability Advocacy Toolkit.  Her work includes advocacy for utility affordability and discount programs, advocacy for utility consumer protections during extreme heat events, promoting strong energy efficiency programs, and promoting an equitable transition away from gas as a heating fuel. 

Karen leads Project Stay Connected Illinois, which includes litigation before the Illinois Commerce Commission in proceedings that address affordability of utility service and consumer protections against utility disconnections. She also advocates for increased investment in energy efficiency and affordable access to home electrification and renewable energy for underserved families in Illinois and the Midwest. 

Prior to joining NCLC, she was the assistant bureau chief in the Public Utilities Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office where she represented Illinois residential ratepayers in litigation involving utility rate increase requests, rate design, ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs, mergers, rulemakings and low income customer affordability issues. Earlier, Karen was a staff attorney at the Illinois Citizens Utility Board and an assistant public counsel at the Illinois Office of Public Counsel.

Education: 

J.D. DePaul University College of Law

B.A. Indiana University