Former Enron executive Mario Max Yzaguirre, who recently resigned as president of Enron de Mexico, has been named by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to fill the spot vacated by Judy Walsh on the three-member Texas Public Utilities Commission. Perry still has one spot to fill after former Chairman Pat Wood III was named to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The newest member of the Texas PUC, who will help oversee the state’s deregulation program, is already taking some heat for his industry ties as well as his environmental record. The 40-year-old Brownsville, TX native graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas School of Law. He had worked at Enron since 1995 before recently resigning, and before that, had been an attorney with high-powered Houston law firm Vinson & Elkins.

Janee Briesemeister, a senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, which monitors the PUC, called Yzaguirre’s appointment the “wrong signal to consumers in the state, particularly when that energy company is Enron, which has profited handsomely from the energy crisis in California.”

She said, “while resignation of his position at Enron and divestiture of any energy-related stock holdings may meet the technical requirements of the law, the intent of the law is to eliminate even the perception of a conflict or impropriety. Regardless of his actions while commissioner, a perceived conflict could limit his effectiveness.

Texas begins its pilot deregulation program in July, and fully implements deregulation across the state on January 1. Enron is a player in the Texas deregulated market, as a partner in the New Power Co., which is marketing energy services to Texas (see Daily GPI, May 17, 2000). Enron partnered with AOL and IBM to form the venture.

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