White House senior advisor Karl Rove last week brokered a deal with Senate Democrats in which he assured them sitting FERC Commissioner William Massey would be re-nominated by the Bush administration for a third term, a knowledgeable source said Monday.

“I’m assuming that is part of the deal” that Massey will be re-nominated before the Senate’s scheduled adjournment on Nov. 21, the source told NGI. He conceded he knew few of the deal’s details. A 10-year veteran of FERC, Massey’s current term officially expired in late June. He has been serving out a grace period that is set to end when the Senate adjourns for the year.

If Massey is re-nominated, sources question whether the Commissioner will be confirmed by the Senate for another term. He faces “a lot of opposition from the Republican side” because he is “strongly identified” with Chairman Pat Wood’s position on a standard market design for the electric market, which is considered “very unpopular” in the Southeast and Northwest, said a gas industry analyst. The split is regional, not along party lines.

Massey, who was tapped by former President Clinton in 1993 for FERC, is supported by key Democrats, particularly Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Boxer of California and Maria Cantwell of Washington. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) called on the White House last July to re-appoint Massey.

The “solomonic” solution, one source said, would be to make Massey a recess appointment after the Congress adjourns which would allow him to serve one year, while the White House mulls over a longer term solution.

According to other sources, the White House last week put out the report of its intention to re-nominate Massey as part of a strategy to “curry favor” with the Senate Democratic leadership on the energy bill, and to get the Senate to confirm the two pending FERC nominees, Joseph T. Kelliher and Suedeen Kelly. After dawdling on the nominations for months, the Senate quickly voted them out Friday.

The two new Commissioners, Kelliher and Kelly, “could be sworn in as soon as next week” and make their first appearance at the agency’s final public meeting on Dec. 17, said Commission spokesman Bryan Lee.

Senate confirmation of Kelliher, a Republican, and Kelly, a Democrat, allows the Commission to maintain a quorum so it can carry out its duties when the Senate adjourns for the year. Kelliher most recently has been an advisor at the Department of Energy (DOE), and Kelly has been a New Mexico attorney and former state regulator.

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