With the Supreme Court decision in effect handing the presidencyto Texas Gov. George W. Bush, speculation has escalated inWashington D.C. over who will be named the next FERC chairman undera Republican administration.

Commissioner Curt Hebert Jr., the sole Republican on thefive-member Commission, has been quite candid over the past monthsabout his aspirations to succeed current Chairman James J. Hoecker.”If George Bush is looking for someone…I know that I’ll be hereand I’ll work hard,” he told NGI. Asked what he thought his chancesof becoming chairman were, Hebert said, “I think you’d have to askPresident-elect Bush that.”

Other names that are being mentioned as candidates include PatWood III, chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission, andformer FERC Commissioner Vicky Bailey, who now is president of PSIEnergy in Indiana, a subsidiary of Cinergy Corp.

But sources indicated that Wood is more interested in beingappointed to the Federal Communications Commission, while Baileyhas little interest in returning to FERC. Neither could be reachedfor comment yesterday.

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 leave the Commission ifBush ultimately taps someone else to head up FERC over the nextfour years.

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