Press Release

PUC Appoints Amy S. Goldman & Matthew Hrivnak to Pennsylvania Telecommunications Relay Service Advisory Board

Published on 3/28/2019

Filed under: Telecommunications

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today approved two appointments to the Pennsylvania Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Advisory Board.

Amy S. Goldman, of Philadelphia, currently a public member of the board, will continue service for another two-year term, extending through Jan. 31, 2021.

Ms. Goldman has served on the TRS Advisory Board in various capacities, including Secretary.  She is a speech-language pathologist whose career has focused on how technology empowers people with significant speech impairments. She has conducted training on the impact and importance of telecommunications for people with communication disabilities, and she has provided testimony to the Federal Communications Commission on access to telecommunications for individuals with intellectual disabilities.  Additionally, through the Temple University Institute on Disabilities, she has been involved with the administration of Pennsylvania’s telecommunications device distribution program (TDDP).  

Matthew Hrivnak, of Mechanicsburg, will represent the PUC’s Bureau of Consumer Services (BCS) on the board.

Mr. Hrivnak has served the PUC for more than 20 years. Since 2016 has been the Manager of Compliance and Competition in the BCS’s Policy Division – where he and his staff review informal complaints filed against utilities and electric and gas suppliers for compliance.  Additionally, he has been a member of the Commission’s Office of Competitive Market Oversight since 2010. 

The TRS Advisory Board, established in 1990, works to ensure the continued success of Pennsylvania’s TRS program. This program offers means to assist persons with disabilities in communications, including traditional telephone relay services, along with video relay and internet relay services. 

The advisory board meets quarterly and includes representatives for the PUC, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry’s Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Pennsylvania Telephone Association and other stakeholders, along with individuals selected to represent the broader community of persons with hearing or speech issues.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities; ensures safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protects the public interest; educates consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; furthers economic development; and fosters new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner.

Visit the PUC’s website at www.puc.pa.gov for recent news releases and video of select proceedings. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. Search for the “Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission” or “PA PUC” on your favorite social media channel for updates on utility issues and other helpful consumer information.

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Docket No.: M-00900239

Contact:

• Nils Hagen-Frederiksen
  Press Secretary
  717-418-2701
  nhagen-fre@pa.gov