FERC Chairman James J. Hoecker announced Wednesday during theCommission’s regular meeting that he will be stepping down on Jan.18, leaving only three seats filled on the five-member panel.

His announcement immediately prompted questions about whether aninterim chairman would be appointed to serve until the Senateconfirms whomever the Bush administration nominates for that post.The decision on an interim chairman “is up to the White House,”Hoecker told NGI.

Commissioner William Massey is the senior member at theCommission, and, therefore, would appear to be the logical choicefor an interim seat, if the White House decides to go that route.Both he and Hoecker were sworn in on the same day.

“It was with some difficulty personally that I submitted [my]letter” to resign from FERC, he said, “but frankly I’m too tiredtoday to be sad.” Hoecker snet his letter to the White House earlyyesterday following a marathon meeting at the Treasury DepartmentTuesday night on the crisis facing California’s electricitymarkets.

Hoecker’s resignation comes only a few weeks after receiving arecess appointment from the White House that effectively extendedhis term on the Commission until the Senate adjourns next year, andalso re-designated him as chairman. The recess appointment,however, was conditioned on Hoecker, a Democrat, agreeing to stepdown as chairman when asked to by President-elect George W. Bush,or prior to that, sources said.

He did a “Don Santa type of thing” by resigning rather thanhaving to recuse himself from FERC cases while job hunting, onesource noted. “It’s a cleaner way to leave the FERC.”

Hoecker’s departure will leave the Commission with two vacantseats — one to be filled by a Republican and the other aDemocrat. FERC, however, still has the quorum needed to conductbusiness.

Meanwhile, speculation continues about who will be the next FERCchairman under a Bush administration. Until now, it seemed thatCommissioner Curt Hebert Jr., the sole Republican on the panel, hada lock on the nomination. But the latest reports in Washingtonsay— don’t bet the farm on Hebert being tapped.

Hebert, who has close ties to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott(R-MS), may, in fact, not turn out to be the man for the job, thesource indicated. “I think he came out of the gate a little tooearly.” Hebert has been actively lobbying to succeed Hoecker formonths.

Judging from Bush’s cabinet choices, the new president mightvery well pick a dark horse to lead the Commission, the sourcenoted. “Maybe he wants to put his own mark on FERC.”

At yesterday’s meeting, Hoecker delivered his swan song of sortsto a packed room. “We have to in the near future nurse some woundedmarkets back to health, and we especially need to get RTOs up andrunning. It’s going to be left to others to make that happen. But Ithink we have plotted a good course, and I am confident that myfellow commissioners here at the Commission and commissioners yetunseen.will make sure that this institution remains vital to theAmerican economy and the American energy consumer. Now is clearlythe time for me to say ‘it’s time for new leadership.'”

Hoecker has been a member of the Commission since 1993, andchairman since June 1997.

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