The Bush White House tapped Commissioner Curt L. Hebert Jr. asits chairman, according to an announcement by the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission yesterday.

Hebert’s appointment, which hasn’t been formally announced bythe White House yet, is permanent, a Commission spokesman said. Ithad been widely speculated that Hebert, as the sole Republican onthe Commission, would be named either interim or permanentchairman.

“I am deeply grateful and honored to be appointed chairman bythe president,” said Hebert in a prepared statement. “These arechallenging times for the Commission as the bulk power marketscontinue to.more fully embrace the tenets of the free enterprisesystem,” which he believes is “part of the solution rather thanpart of the problem for the malfunctioning markets on the WestCoast.”

Hebert has earned the reputation of a firebrand since joiningthe Commission in November 1997, dissenting from the FERC majorityin a number of cases over the years. His current term expires in2004.

The native of Mississippi had made no secret of his desire tobecome the head of FERC, openly lobbying for the post for the pastyear. He has had a strong supporter in Senate Majority Leader TrentLott (R-MS).

Hebert succeeds Commissioner William Massey who had beenappointed chairman by former President Clinton last Friday. He hadreplaced Chairman James J. Hoecker who had stepped down on Thursdayafter more than three years at the helm of the Commission.

The Bush White House wanted to quickly install its own choice atFERC, said Massey, given the “chairman of this agency has become anextraordinarily important post” in light of the continuing powercrisis in California.

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