Vacant

Several western states, including Oregon, California and Arizona, are faced with filling vacant energy regulatory slots entering 2011.

Although there are only two vacant seats on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Gov. Jerry Brown could have a third seat to fill if one sitting member’s six-year term is not approved by the state Senate later this month.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is vying for the vice chairmanship of the Senate Republican Conference, which will become vacant as a result of the shakeup in GOP leadership following an admission by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) of an extramarital affair. Senate Minority Lead Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “talked to her about the position and encouraged her to run for it,” said Robert Dillon, a spokesman for Murkowski. Murkowski is seeking to replace Sen. John Thune (R-SD), who has set his sights on the chairmanship formerly held by Ensign, The Hill newspaper reported. Ensign resigned as chairman earlier this month after he publicly admitted the affair. The Senate GOP is expected to vote Thursday. The vice chairmanship is considered the No. 5 leadership position among Senate Republicans. “I have been participating and giving my input and thinking down the road about the prospect of coming on in an elected capacity,” Murkowski told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner last week. “I did not anticipate there would be an opening until the next Congress…I do feel I have something to offer, a moderating voice in our conference, which is good.” Murkowski has gained prominence in the Republican party over the last couple of years. She plans to remain on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where she is the ranking Republican.

The two nominees named to fill vacant seats at FERC are likely to remain stalled in the Senate until the Bush White House taps a successor for outgoing Commissioner Nora Brownell, according to Capitol Hill sources.

In a surprise move, the White House has sent the Senate the nominations of a Colorado attorney and a Washington, DC energy executive to fill the two vacant seats at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If confirmed by the Senate, this would be the first time since December 2003 that the five-member Commission will be operating at full capacity.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) last Monday placed a formal hold on the nomination of Joseph T. Kelliher to fill one of two vacant seats at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to the senator’s office.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) Monday placed a formal hold on the nomination of Joseph T. Kelliher to fill one of two vacant seats at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to the senator’s office.

Ending months of doubt over the fate of a FERC designee, the White House has re-nominated Joseph T. Kelliher to one of two vacant seats on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Kelliher, a senior policy advisor at the Department of Energy (DOE), would succeed former Commissioner Linda K. Breathitt, whose term expired in December.

Rebecca Armendariz Klein has been tapped to fill the last vacant spot on the Texas Public Utilities Commission by Gov. Rick Perry. Armendariz Klein currently is a consultant with KPMG Consulting and served as general government policy director under George W. Bush when he was governor. She also has worked as a senior attorney for the Texas PUC and as a telecommunications law analyst for the American Enterprise Institute. Perry also announced that Mario Max Yzaguirre, named two weeks ago to the Texas PUC, will become the new chairman of the three-member panel.