The White House last week forwarded to the Senate the nomination of former New Mexico regulator Suedeen G. Kelly for a seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The move comes three months after President Bush announced his intention to tap Kelly, a Democrat, for the five-member federal regulatory agency (see NGI, March 17).

A spokeswoman for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over FERC nominations, said last Wednesday it still was awaiting paperwork (FBI background check) on the nominee from the White House. Once that’s received and determined to be in order, she noted the committee would schedule a confirmation hearing probably for mid-July.

The latest action could help grease the way for FERC Republican nominee Joseph T. Kelliher, whose nomination has been hanging in limbo since March. Some Senate Democrats, most notably Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), vowed to block Kelliher until the White House nominated Kelly or another Democrat for the Commission. They want the Senate to vote on the two nominees as a package deal.

But even with Kelly’s nomination now at Capitol Hill, Kelliher — a senior policy advisor at the Department of Energy (DOE) — faces other problems. Two senators, Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), in March placed “holds” on Kelliher’s nomination, which essentially froze the process and prevented the full Senate from confirming him until their concerns were met (see NGI, March 24). Wyden’s office last week said the senator’s hold still was in place, but the status of Cantwell’s hold could not be learned.

If confirmed by the Senate, Kelly would fill out the remaining term of former FERC Chairman Curt Hebert Jr., who left the commission in the summer of 2001. That term would expire on June 30, 2004. She currently is an attorney and a professor of law at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Kelliher is seeking the seat formerly held by Commissioner Linda K. Breathitt, who departed the agency in December. His term would run until June 30, 2007.

Kelliher is one step further along than Kelly in the confirmation process, having had his nomination approved by the Senate Energy Committee in mid-March.

Meanwhile, the ranks are thinning at FERC. The term of Commissioner William Massey, the sole Democrat on the Commission, is due to expire at the end of the month. But he will be able to continue to serve during a grace period that would end when Congress adjourns for the year. There is the possibility that he could be permitted to serve longer if the Senate hasn’t yet approved either Kelliher or Kelly by then. Massey would be needed to maintain a quorum in order for FERC to conduct business.

Massey, who has served on the Commission since 1993, has signaled that he is interested in staying on at FERC for a third term, but there has been no word from the White House on whether it intends to re-nominate him (see NGI, March 3).

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