Former FERC Commissioner Donald Santa Jr. is expected to assume the new position of executive vice president of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) later this year and take over the reins of the interstate pipeline group by as early as 2004, when its existing president, Jerald V. Halvorsen, is due to retire.

INGAA is looking to Santa to “hold the place together” in light of the “wholesale turnover of pipeline [ownership] to new folks,” which has partly contributed to the drop in the group’s membership to 12 pipeline companies from 32 in 1996, said Halvorsen, who has steered the group over the past 16 years. By selecting Santa, “we wanted to send a signal that we’re alive and well.”

He noted he has had his “eye” on Santa as his successor for several years. “He’s a good, solid choice. I feel very good about him,” said Halvorsen, adding that “I got down on my knees and handed him a flower” to get Santa to make the leap to INGAA. Halvorsen said his contract at INGAA is up in 2005, but he noted he expects to retire before then.

Santa, currently a partner in the law firm of Troutman Sanders in Washington, DC, has been involved as outside legal counsel for INGAA during the past year, according to Halvorsen. He will join the pipeline group as soon as he “can wrap up my obligations at Troutman,” where he has focused “predominantly” on electricity issues. Santa has extensive experience in gas issues through his work as a FERC Commissioner and on Capitol Hill as a staffer for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

One of the biggest challenges facing pipelines, Santa believes, is the impact of the “post-Enron meltdown” on raising capital to meet the infrastructure demands at the production end and further downstream. He also sees the changing pipeline ownership as a key priority. “We very clearly are seeing some reshuffling of assets” in the industry. It will be “interesting” to see what the pipe sector looks like a year from now, he noted.

Just to name a few, CMS Energy is selling pipeline assets; Enron has put Transwestern Pipeline and its 50% ownership share of Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) on the auction block; El Paso is shedding its 50% ownership in FGT; and PGE Gas Transmission-Northwest Corp.’s assets are up for sale, Halvorsen said. How many more pipelines switch hands “depends on how healthy the parents stay.”

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