Matt Smith

Matt Smith is the Assistant Director for the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Pipeline Safety Program and One-Call Program. Mr. Smith has 18 years of experience inspecting all categories of natural gas operators and in enforcing federal and state pipeline safety regulations and in supervising inspectors and training new inspectors for his program. Prior to Mr. Smith’s current position at the Illinois Commerce Commission, he worked in the natural gas industry in various field positions for fifteen years. During Mr. Smith’s time in the natural gas industry, he has worked on all aspects of a natural gas system including being a qualified pipeline welder, being qualified to join plastic pipelines, and obtaining a variety of certifications under Operator Qualification programs to perform essentially all of the required O&M tasks on a pipeline. Mr. Smith is a current member of the federal/state Operator Qualification task group and a former long term member of the NAPSR Distribution Team task group, as well as being an Associate Instructor at PHMSA's Training and Qualification center in Oklahoma City. Matt also continues to be active in the National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR) having served two terms as the Central Region Chair and organized and facilitated two annual Central Region Meetings in Illinois.

As a gas pipeline safety inspector, I inspected natural gas operators’ various plans and procedures for compliance with state and federal regulations. In addition, I conducted compliance audits in the field observing large diameter steel and polyethylene installations. I also conducted record audits of the natural gas operators, then conducted corresponding field audits to determine operator compliance.

My field experience included directing other employees during various tasks as a crew leadman and a foreman. This entailed guiding several employees to complete daily tasks as well as leading construction teams to complete installation tasks. As a supervisor and assistant director, I led two different teams to enforce both state and federal regulations. This included leading the team by providing guidance that I have learned over my career as both a field employee and an inspector. This unique background has provided me the best set of tools to ensure that natural gas operators are complying with the regulations and providing a safe and reliable product to the consumers and citizens of Illinois.

While working as a natural gas operator at both the City of Pittsfield and Ameren Illinois Company, my focus was on operating a natural gas system safely while complying with regulations. This work included constructing both steel and polyethylene gas systems as a qualified welder and fuser, repairing the gas systems when failures occurred, testing regulator stations for proper operation, helping to ensure the effective operation of cathodic protection systems, and responding to gas emergency situations and taking actions to protect people then property while following the operator’s procedures. In summary, my field positions allowed me to work in and gain experience in all facets of operating a gas system safely.