Commissioner

The Senate last week confirmed Commissioner Curt Hebert Jr. to anew five-year term on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Histerm expires in June 2004.

The Senate last week confirmed Commissioner Curt Hebert Jr. to anew five-year term on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Histerm expires in June 2004.

The White House has given the green-light to the renomination ofCommissioner Curt Hebert Jr. for a full five-year term at theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission. “It’s my understanding thatthey’ve signed off on my nomination,” Hebert told NGI.SenateMajority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) sent a letter to the White Housein January seeking his renomination. The Senate EnergyCommitteeis expected to schedule a hearing after Congress returns fromrecess in mid-April, at which time it will begin to schedule ahearing.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush appointedBrett A. Perlman of Houstonto the Public Utility Commission of Texas to serve a term endingSept. 1, 2003. Perlman is a management consultant with McKinsey andCo. Inc., specializing in high technology and telecommunications.He is responsible for providing strategic planning advice to seniorexecutives of Fortune 500 companies. He was previously an attorneywith the law firm of Jenkens and Gilchrist in Houston and from1985-89, was an attorney with the Washington D.C. law firm of AkinGump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will considerthe confirmation of Commissioner William Massey to a second term atFERC at a hearing this Thursday. There, he is expected to get awarm reception.

While FERC’s regulatory gas options paper so far has been kepttightly under wraps, Commissioner Curt L. Hebert Jr. clearly is nothiding his views on some of the most important issues theCommission will face over the next few years. In an articlepublished in the Energy Law Journal, Hebert begins to tackle thequestion of how the Commission can “develop incentives that willspur the industry to act more competitively.”

Some in the natural gas industry are growing increasingly uneasythat the re-appointment of William Massey to a second term at theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission appears to be stalled at theWhite House.