The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said it will hold a confirmation hearing Thursday (Aug. 6) for former Iowa regulator John R. Norris to sit on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In mid-June President Obama nominated Norris, former chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board and current chief of staff for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, to finish out the remainder of the term vacated by former FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher (see Daily GPI, June 12). His term term will expire on June 30, 2012. The committee is expected to hold a confirmation for FERC Commissioner Suedeen Kelly when Congress returns from its month-long recess after Labor Day. Obama in March tapped Kelly for another term on the Commission to expire on June 30, 2014 (see Daily GPI, March 23). Both Norris and Kelly are Democrats.

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