Leadership

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has named Executive Vice President Kimberly Harris, 46, as the utility’s new president. Harris joined PSE in 1999 and has held several leadership positions during the past 11 years — most recently serving as executive vice president and chief resource officer, responsible for all of PSE’s energy resources, including project development and contract management, energy efficiency services and federal government relations. Prior to that she was a senior vice president for regulatory policy and energy efficiency. Harris also has been PSE’s vice president of regulatory and government affairs, associate general counsel and director of load resource strategies.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has worked out an agreement with Senate leadership to hold a vote on her “disapproval resolution” on June 10, a spokesman for the senator said. The vote will be on whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be allowed to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has worked out an agreement with Senate leadership to hold a vote on her “disapproval resolution” on June 10, a spokesman for the senator said. As a result, the vote on whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be allowed to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA) is expected to occur on that date.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) signaled she would oppose any attempt by the Democratic leadership to possibly merge energy legislation and a cap-and-trade bill on the Senate floor this year. Lumping two very controversial pieces of legislation into a single-bill strategy will make final passage very difficult, said the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The energy bill is expected to address a number of contentious issues, including federal siting of electric transmission facilities, drilling in the previously banned areas of the Outer Continental Shelf and a renewable energy standard (see NGI, March 9). Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has indicated that energy and cap-and-trade legislation should be dealt with separately. Cap-and-trade “[is] not as ready for prime time in my opinion,” he said. Murkowski said she and her staff are working in a bipartisan fashion with Bingaman and his staff on a comprehensive energy bill that they hope to mark up by the end of March.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Friday signaled that she would oppose any attempt by the Democratic leadership to possibly merge energy legislation and a cap-and-trade bill on the Senate floor this year.

As the nation gears up for new leadership in Washington, natural gas and electricity companies find themselves in kind of a regulatory limbo as they await word on who will be FERC chairman in the Obama administration.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Saturday the Democratic leadership plans to offer a broad energy bill in September that would open some closed portions of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to oil and natural gas drilling. Instead of welcoming her remarks, however, House Republicans continued to be wary.

Six western state governors wrote to the Congressional leadership of both major political parties Thursday urging comprehensive action on global climate change, while one of the region’s major power utilities threw its support behind a bipartisan three-part approach to promoting plug-in electric vehicles with new power transmission legislation.

The House Democratic leadership says it will introduce Friday its much-touted energy bill that is expected to focus on renewable and alternative energy, rather than traditional oil and natural gas.