About Us
Fox, Smolen & Associates, Inc
 
 
Marilyn J. Fox
President
 
Marilyn is a professional accountant, specializing in utility rate regulation and other financial and policy issues. She has worked for the finance departments of municipal governments regulating electric, gas and water utilities and negotiating franchise agreements and contracts with business entities. She has also handled franchise fee and tax compliance issues. She has served as an expert witness in local, state and federal proceedings and presented testimony before the State Legislature of Texas. Marilyn has worked with clients from the public and private sector on a variety of projects ranging from franchise fee reviews and negotiations to applying the Federal Communications Commission’s Rules for pole attachment rate calculations. She filed testimony at the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) in many major rate cases and participated in various rule-making workshops. She also assisted in strategic planning for two large commercial companies considering entry into the deregulated electric markets.
 
Paul N. Smolen
Vice President
 
Paul has over twenty-five years of experience in infrastructure development and regulatory compliance. His clients include public- and private-sector organizations preparing to exercise their options in deregulated telecommunications and electric markets. Paul helps public power utilities and other entities to implement electric deregulation plans. In addition, he prepares feasibility studies and business plans for telecommunications networks. He conducts cable television needs assessments and prepares municipal policy reviews related to telecommunications issues. Paul has served as a municipal regulatory affairs officer and negotiated licenses and franchises for cable-television and telecommunications providers. His duties included rights-of-way management, telecommunications tower sitting, Internet public service delivery and other economic development initiatives. As an economist at the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Paul was involved in telecommunications and electric tariff development and rate design. He also coordinated conservation and load-management projects and served on several Federal Communications Commission Joint Boards.
 
Rowland L. Curry
Senior Analyst
 
Rowland is an engineer who served for 25 years on the staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas before retiring in 2001.  He was involved in a variety of utility issues at the PUC, including depreciation, rate design, customer service, jurisdictional separations, universal service, tariff review and implementation, management audits, and technology deployment.  His career included leadership positions within the PUC staff as well as in national working groups.  Rowland served terms as Chairman of both the Staff Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Staff Subcommittee on Telephone Service Quality of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.  He also participated on the staffs of three Federal-State Joint Boards, acting as state staff chair for the Universal Service Joint Board.  His independent regulatory consulting firm, Curry & Associates, has provided services for regulatory agencies and public sector clients in ten states.  Rowland provides a technical perspective on projects, tempered with his extensive regulatory and managerial experience.
 
Jason O’Krent
Director of Sales & Marketing
 
Jason graduated from the University of Redlands in Southern California with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a Psychology minor. He works directly with staff from Chambers of Commerce to help them market the Electric Coalitions. This includes designing and distributing marketing materials such as flyers, pocket cards, posters, newsletter articles and surveys. In addition, Jason works directly with business representatives to help them select a competitive contract for their electricity requirements.
 
Jacob Childress
Data Analyst
 
Jacob graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration.  He has been with Fox, Smolen & Associates since 2005.  Jacob assists in obtaining, processing, and analyzing bids for our Electric Coalition clients.  Since joining Fox, Smolen, he has become highly proficient with our database and is working on new ways to streamline our procedures.
 
John Piña
Pricing Analyst
 
John graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. John works directly with our providers on pricing and plays a vital role providing support to our Electric Coalitions and the entire FSA team.