With the Supreme Court last week effectively handing the keys tothe White House to now President-elect George W. Bush, speculationhas escalated in Washington D.C. over who will be tapped as thenext FERC chairman under a Republican administration.

Commissioner Curt Hebert Jr., the sole Republican among the fourcurrent Commission members, has been quite candid over the pastmonths about his aspirations to succeed current Chairman James J.Hoecker. “If George Bush is looking for someone.I know that I’ll behere and I’ll work hard,” he told NGI last week. Asked what hethought his chances of becoming chairman were, Hebert said, “Ithink you’d have to ask President-elect Bush that.”

Others who are being mentioned as candidates include Pat WoodIII, chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission, and formerFERC Commissioner Vicky Bailey, who now is president of PSI Energyin Indiana, a subsidiary of Cinergy Corp. The Commission could bedown to three members by the time the new president is inaugurated.Bailey’s seat on the five-member Commission is still open andcurrent Chairman James Hoecker’s seat also would be available if heis not soon nominated for another term. His term and grace periodexpire with the current Congress.

“We’ve heard that” Wood’s name is being floated for FERCchairman, “although we’ve also heard it for the FederalCommunications Commission,” said PUC spokesman Terry Hadley.Despite reports to the contrary, he noted that Wood is “notnecessarily” more interested in the FCC than FERC. “I certainlywouldn’t characterize one area being more interesting to Pat thanthe other.he hasn’t come out to lobby for any one position” ButHadley hinted Wood might be better suited for FERC since “latelyhe’s been spending more time working through electric restructuringissues.”

He said he wasn’t aware of any contact between Wood and the Bushtransition team. “I suspect it would be awhile before any appointedpositions below cabinet level finally get to the selectionprocess.” Bailey was on vacation last week, and could not bereached for comment. However, sources indicate she has littleinterest in returning to FERC.

Hebert, who has close ties to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott(R-MS), said he already has been in contact with “people on theBush team” in Austin, TX. In fact, “we’ve been working with theBush team before anyone was running against him in the primary orotherwise. We continue to have those conversations, and arecomfortable moving towards the transition.”

Looking to the future, he noted, “I think it’s important that wehit the ground running on Jan. 20, and get things movingcontinually in the right direction. There’s a lot of work to bedone here at FERC.” Hebert dismissed reports that he might leavethe Commission if Bush ultimately selects someone else to head upFERC over the next four years.

Susan Parker

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