Commissioner Kerr was appointed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by Governor Mike Easley for an eight-year term that commenced on July 1, 2001 and expires on June 30, 2009. He is the immediate Past President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), a member of its Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Electricity Committee and Task Force on Climate Policy. Commissioner Kerr is a member of The Keystone Center Energy Board and the Advisory Council of the Electric Power Research Institute. Commissioner Kerr is a Past President of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (SEARUC) and former Co-Chair of the Alliance of State Leaders Protecting Electricity Consumers.

Commissioner Kerr has testified before Committees of the United States Senate and North Carolina General Assembly as well as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He also has been a frequent speaker on regulatory issues to such groups as the Energy Regulators Regional Association (Central, Eastern Europe and Eurasia), the American Bar Association, North American Energy Standards Board, Electric Power Supply Association, Edison Electric Institute, American Gas Association, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and the Harvard Electricity Policy Group. In 2007, Commissioner Kerr was a delegate to the 6th European Union – United States Energy Regulators Roundtable in Athens, Greece. In 2005, Commissioner Kerr was named the 2005 Bonbright Honoree by the James C. Bonbright Utilities Centre, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia.

Commissioner Kerr, a Democrat, was born on March 8, 1964 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He graduated cum laude from Washington and Lee University in 1986. Following completion of his undergraduate degree, Kerr spent three years working for First Union Corporation (now Wachovia) in Charlotte and Atlanta. He received his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, where he graduated with honors in 1992.

Prior to coming to the Utilities Commission, Kerr was a Partner in the law firm of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell, & Jernigan, L.L.P. His practice concentrated in civil and administrative litigation, with significant experience in the Trial Division of both the State and Federal Court systems, the Appellate Division of the State Court system, and the Utilities Commission.

Commissioner Kerr has been active in various bar-related and community service organizations, including the American Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, and the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Triangle Division of the March of Dimes, the Board of Directors of the UNC School of Law Alumni Association, and currently he serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation.

Kerr, his wife, Frances, and children, Yancey and Helen, live in Raleigh and are members of Hayes Barton United Methodist Church.