In one of the speediest confirmations ever on Capitol Hill, theSenate on Friday approved by unanimous consent the re-appointmentof Commissioner William L. Massey to a second five-year term on theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Senate vote came only one day after his nomination was votedout of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and abouttwo weeks after the White House announced its intention to nominatehim to another term.

The Senate committee set the pace last week when it sentMassey’s nomination to the full Senate for approval immediatelyfollowing his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Rather thanscheduling a business meeting, as is normally done, members of theSenate panel conferred just off the floor and voted by unanimousconsent to report his nomination favorably out of committee.

“It’s not too surprising that it went this quickly,” said DerekJumper, a spokesman for the committee. Massey was a”non-controversial” candidate and was a sitting commissionerseeking renomination to a second term, he noted.

At the confirmation hearing, which was short andnon-confrontational, Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-AR) referred to Massey as”one of the shining lights” at the Commission. During his firstterm, he took the lead in formulating merger policy at FERC,Bumpers noted. A Democrat, Massey was chief counsel to Bumpers formost of the 1980s. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) called him “anothertalented person” from Arkansas.

The issues raised at the hearing were not directly related tonatural gas. They involved whether FERC has the authority to removehydroelectric dams, whether the Commission has the authority toorder electric transmission companies to relinquish theirfacilities to independent system operators, whether it shouldoversee the transmission facilities of the Tennessee ValleyAuthority and Bonneville Power Administration, criticism of thepace at which FERC moves on electric-related mergers, and repeal ofthe Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA).

Massey was first nominated by President Clinton and confirmed bythe Senate in May 1993. His current term expires June 30th. Hissecond term runs until June 30, 2003.

Susan Parker

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