- Email: [email protected]
Meet the FERC commisioners
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whether Ipalco could “refocus its phiIosophy” to serve PSI’s largely suburban constituency Utility investors, initially enthusiastic about the Ipalco bid, also began to cool on chances of an Ipalco slam dunk. Kemper Securities announced on May 7 that it would lower its investment rating on PSI Resources Inc. from “hold” to “reduce,” in apparent recognition of hurdles facing the Ipalco bid. In a research report, Kemper said PSI stock’s upside potential is 11% under Ipalco’s takeover offer, while the downside risk is 33% if no merger or acquisition takes place. most recent chapter in this utility soap opera was coming to a close, Ipalco’s Hodowal sent a letter to Rogers and Randolph suggesting a meeting between the three to discuss Ipalco’s offer to acquire PSI - a meeting Rogers has opposed as unproductive. Said Hodowal: “Let’s sit down . . . and see how we can get the Ipalco and PSI combination completed. Perhaps [CG&E’s] Randolph would like to pursue the acquisition of a company outside of Indiana.” Hodowal noted that Randolph had indicated in deposition testimony that he would have met with Hodowal but was discouraged from doing so by Rogers. No such meeting seems likely The most recent maneuver was PSI’s announced delay of its annual meeting from May to September. PSI spokesperson Angeline Protogere said the
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company was not concerned about the result of the board of director’s meeting. “Wejust want our shareholders to have all the information,” she said, “and they don’t have it now.” Ipalco’s Hodowal said he was “appalled” at the delay in PSI’s annual meeting date. “To us,” he added, “this looks like a case of the politician who, fearing the results, moves the election date.” One analyst who knows both Hodowal and Rogers expressed
sthe
surprise at the former’s being involved in a maneuver as aggressive as the hostile tender offer, noting “It’s awfully hard to succeed with a hostile takeover in this business. And frankly,JohnHodowal is not the kind of guy you’d expect to do this. He’s very low key sort of guy” Low key or not, staff members at both utilities are gearing up for a summer full of surprises as this duel in the corn continues. -Robert 0. Mawitz
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New Faces, New Era Meet
the FERC
Co?nmksionevs hen Bill Clinton named HaW zel O’Leary to be energy secretary there were jokes about the fact that she is a “two-fer” black, and a woman. This counts for much in the political correctness-consciousness of Washington, D.C. today, where gender and racial balance am treated more respectfully than they were in the Reagan-Bush years. In his choices for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Clinton has managed to come up with a “six-fer.” FERC nominee Vicky Bailey is, count them: (1) a woman (2) African-American, (3) Republican (as a minority of members must be), (4) a non-lawyer, (5) a state regulator and (6) a single mother. She may also be the savviest politician among the quartet of FERC nominees the president announced April 12, which includes three Caucasian male Washington lawyers - Bill Massey Jim Hoecker and Don Santa, as well as Bailey Two stories provide evidence of Bailey’s political skills. According to a natural gas industry official, before her nomination was announced, but at a time when it was well known that Bailey was angling for a FERC slot, Bailey visited the major gas trade associations in Washington. “She told us, ‘I’m Vicky Bailey and I hope to be appointed to
The Electricity Journal
THE
PRRC. I don’t know very much about natural gas and I want you to help me learn”’ the official said. That act cemented the gas industry behind her nomination. According to an electric utility trade association official, toward the end of the process that ended with the four nominees, there was a brief period where it looked like it all could come unglued. “At that point, Jim Rogers [of PSI Energy] brought Bailey to Washington,” said the official. “They went to meet Vernon Jordan [the black Washington lawyer who was a major power in the Clinton campaign and transition]. He was very impressed with her and became her advocate at the White House. And the nomination was sewed up.” n extraordinary set of circumstances led to a situation where Clinton was given basitally a clean sweep at FERC, with the ability to appoint four of five commissioners and to promote sitting Commissioner Betsy Moler to chair. Ironically Sen Bennett Johnston (D-La.) pushed through legislation several years ago to stagger the terms at PERC so such a situation would not exist. But the decisions by Republican commissioners Martin AIlday and Branko Terzic to resign after George Bush’s defeat, plus the expiration of the terms of Republican Charles Trabandt and Democrat Jerry Langdon gave Clinton the chance to shape the comrnission immediately How will this new crew which faces a daunting set of
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tasks related to transmission access and the provisions of the 1992 Energy Policy Act-perform? It’s impossible to say but it is possible to assemble some of the background information on each of the nominees that may prove instructive.
Vicky Bailey Bailey gets generally high marks from those who have worked with her or brought cases before the Indiana Utility Regula-
c
tory Commissioner. “She’s a good listener and very approachable,” says one electric utility industry official who has known her since she joined the IURC in 1986. Her FERC term would expire June 30,1996. She replaces Jerry Langdon on the commission. A Purdue University graduate, Bailey had been vice president for administration at the J. Bailey Company assistant admissions office at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and promo-
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tions director at the Owens-Illinois Inc. glass container division. Bailey is quite familiar with electric utility issues, including transmission access. “My only pmblem with Bailey” said a public power official, “is that she isn’t skeptical enough and seems to be easily swayed by the impressive presentations the investor-owned utilities put on She doesn’t seem to probe deeply and ask the tough CpeStiOIlS.”
Bill Massey
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assey
to be nominated to fill Martin Allday’s unexpired term ending October 20 plus a new five-year term ending June 30,1998, is a veteran Washington operative as a partner in the Little Rock law firm of Mitchell, Wilhams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard. He joined that firm after service as chief counsel and legislative director for Senator Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.), the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Natural Re source Committee after Johnston. His ties to BiIl Clinton do not come from his connection with Bumpers, who was not in the Clinton political camp in Arkansas. Rather, Massey got to know Clinton during a stint as chief attomey and director of Arkansas Legal Services and as an instructor at the University of Arkansas School of Law at the same time Clinton was teaching there. He served on the Clinton transition team for the Energy Department.
See FXRC, page84 27
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From FERC, page17 Those who know Massey de scribe him as a low-key lobbyist and a centrist who works effectively behind the scenes. His most prominent client is Entergy Corp, on whose behalf he lobbied on the issues of regional integrated resource planning and regional transmission groups during the 1992 energy act development. “I’m not troubled by his Rntergy connection,” says a publit power official. “As a lawyer, he doesn’t necessarily believe all thethingsheissayingonhisclient’s behalf. Also, Entergy has been positioning itself as one of the more progressive utilities these days, after years of being a traditional IOU dinosaur”
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working very smart, very easy to get along with/ says a former colleague on the Senate committee. “In many ways, he reminds me of Betsy, except he has a better sense of humor.” A gas industry lobbyist describes Santa as “a good, solid guy who knows our industry very well. He’s cool under fire and well respected.” Santa is particularly well experienced in pipeline issues, one of the major items on FERC’s regulatory plate. He has not played much of a role on electric utility issues.
Donald Santa
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nominated to replace Charles Trabandt, has a term that will expire June 30,1997. His nomination follows a tradition that dates back several years: rewarding loyal Senate Energy Committee staff with FRRC appointments. Among those so graced have been Michael Naeve, Trabandt, and Moler. At the committee since 1989, Santa has worked mostly on natural gas issues. Prior to that, he was with the Washington law firm of Van Ness, Feldman, Sutcliffe & Curtis, which has a major energy practice under former FERC chairmanCharles Curtis. Santa gets generally high marks from those who have worked with him in the past. “He’s hard 84
Santa’s nomination was a surprise, since he had not played much of a role in the major controversies involved in the 1992 energy act. Many veteran Washington watchers had expected Santa’s counterpart on the electric side of the committee, Bill Conway, to get an appointment as a reward for his work on Public Utility Holding Company Act reform Because the law requires that the party in power have no more than three of the five FERC seats, Santa is described as an “inde pendent.”
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James Hoecker Hoe&r’s nomination is for the unexpired term of Branko Terzic, ending June 30,199s. He is a Democrat He was active in the Clintoncampaignoftenservingas a surrogate for Clinton on energy issues Hoe&r brings a wealth of FERC experience to the table. He is the first former FERC staffer to be named to the commission,where heservedfmm1979to19%3inavariety of positions in the office of generalcounselandaslegaladvisor to CommissionersMatthew Holden and Georgianna Sheldon. Since leaving FERC, he has been associated with the Washington office of the law firm of Jones, Day Reavis & rogue, working mostly on natural gas issues. LL wetalkedtohim,he w”” kept bringing up parallels betweenelectricityand the natural gasindustry-Onler636andthat sort of thing,” said a public power officialwhometwithHoeckerre cent@ “Overall, I was favorably impresseda.ndIexpecthimtobe pragmatic, methodical and nonideological. Also, he said he be lievesboth in case work and in rulemaking. He said FERC has been doing things the wmng way by tryingtodoallitsrulemakingona case-by-caseapproach.” “I’m more concerned about Betsy,” said the official. “She hasn’t shown much leadership and she seems to be prone to change her mind. We need vision at FERC and we aren’t getting it. You don’t get there by little steps, the way she has been moving.” -Kennedy l? Maize The Electricity Journal
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whether Ipalco could “refocus its phiIosophy” to serve PSI’s largely suburban constituency Utility investors, initially enthusiastic about the Ipalco bid, also began to cool on chances of an Ipalco slam dunk. Kemper Securities announced on May 7 that it would lower its investment rating on PSI Resources Inc. from “hold” to “reduce,” in apparent recognition of hurdles facing the Ipalco bid. In a research report, Kemper said PSI stock’s upside potential is 11% under Ipalco’s takeover offer, while the downside risk is 33% if no merger or acquisition takes place. most recent chapter in this utility soap opera was coming to a close, Ipalco’s Hodowal sent a letter to Rogers and Randolph suggesting a meeting between the three to discuss Ipalco’s offer to acquire PSI - a meeting Rogers has opposed as unproductive. Said Hodowal: “Let’s sit down . . . and see how we can get the Ipalco and PSI combination completed. Perhaps [CG&E’s] Randolph would like to pursue the acquisition of a company outside of Indiana.” Hodowal noted that Randolph had indicated in deposition testimony that he would have met with Hodowal but was discouraged from doing so by Rogers. No such meeting seems likely The most recent maneuver was PSI’s announced delay of its annual meeting from May to September. PSI spokesperson Angeline Protogere said the
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company was not concerned about the result of the board of director’s meeting. “Wejust want our shareholders to have all the information,” she said, “and they don’t have it now.” Ipalco’s Hodowal said he was “appalled” at the delay in PSI’s annual meeting date. “To us,” he added, “this looks like a case of the politician who, fearing the results, moves the election date.” One analyst who knows both Hodowal and Rogers expressed
sthe
surprise at the former’s being involved in a maneuver as aggressive as the hostile tender offer, noting “It’s awfully hard to succeed with a hostile takeover in this business. And frankly,JohnHodowal is not the kind of guy you’d expect to do this. He’s very low key sort of guy” Low key or not, staff members at both utilities are gearing up for a summer full of surprises as this duel in the corn continues. -Robert 0. Mawitz
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New Faces, New Era Meet
the FERC
Co?nmksionevs hen Bill Clinton named HaW zel O’Leary to be energy secretary there were jokes about the fact that she is a “two-fer” black, and a woman. This counts for much in the political correctness-consciousness of Washington, D.C. today, where gender and racial balance am treated more respectfully than they were in the Reagan-Bush years. In his choices for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Clinton has managed to come up with a “six-fer.” FERC nominee Vicky Bailey is, count them: (1) a woman (2) African-American, (3) Republican (as a minority of members must be), (4) a non-lawyer, (5) a state regulator and (6) a single mother. She may also be the savviest politician among the quartet of FERC nominees the president announced April 12, which includes three Caucasian male Washington lawyers - Bill Massey Jim Hoecker and Don Santa, as well as Bailey Two stories provide evidence of Bailey’s political skills. According to a natural gas industry official, before her nomination was announced, but at a time when it was well known that Bailey was angling for a FERC slot, Bailey visited the major gas trade associations in Washington. “She told us, ‘I’m Vicky Bailey and I hope to be appointed to
The Electricity Journal
THE
PRRC. I don’t know very much about natural gas and I want you to help me learn”’ the official said. That act cemented the gas industry behind her nomination. According to an electric utility trade association official, toward the end of the process that ended with the four nominees, there was a brief period where it looked like it all could come unglued. “At that point, Jim Rogers [of PSI Energy] brought Bailey to Washington,” said the official. “They went to meet Vernon Jordan [the black Washington lawyer who was a major power in the Clinton campaign and transition]. He was very impressed with her and became her advocate at the White House. And the nomination was sewed up.” n extraordinary set of circumstances led to a situation where Clinton was given basitally a clean sweep at FERC, with the ability to appoint four of five commissioners and to promote sitting Commissioner Betsy Moler to chair. Ironically Sen Bennett Johnston (D-La.) pushed through legislation several years ago to stagger the terms at PERC so such a situation would not exist. But the decisions by Republican commissioners Martin AIlday and Branko Terzic to resign after George Bush’s defeat, plus the expiration of the terms of Republican Charles Trabandt and Democrat Jerry Langdon gave Clinton the chance to shape the comrnission immediately How will this new crew which faces a daunting set of
NEWS
IN
F
tasks related to transmission access and the provisions of the 1992 Energy Policy Act-perform? It’s impossible to say but it is possible to assemble some of the background information on each of the nominees that may prove instructive.
Vicky Bailey Bailey gets generally high marks from those who have worked with her or brought cases before the Indiana Utility Regula-
c
tory Commissioner. “She’s a good listener and very approachable,” says one electric utility industry official who has known her since she joined the IURC in 1986. Her FERC term would expire June 30,1996. She replaces Jerry Langdon on the commission. A Purdue University graduate, Bailey had been vice president for administration at the J. Bailey Company assistant admissions office at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and promo-
u
s
tions director at the Owens-Illinois Inc. glass container division. Bailey is quite familiar with electric utility issues, including transmission access. “My only pmblem with Bailey” said a public power official, “is that she isn’t skeptical enough and seems to be easily swayed by the impressive presentations the investor-owned utilities put on She doesn’t seem to probe deeply and ask the tough CpeStiOIlS.”
Bill Massey
M
A
June2993
0
assey
to be nominated to fill Martin Allday’s unexpired term ending October 20 plus a new five-year term ending June 30,1998, is a veteran Washington operative as a partner in the Little Rock law firm of Mitchell, Wilhams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard. He joined that firm after service as chief counsel and legislative director for Senator Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.), the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Natural Re source Committee after Johnston. His ties to BiIl Clinton do not come from his connection with Bumpers, who was not in the Clinton political camp in Arkansas. Rather, Massey got to know Clinton during a stint as chief attomey and director of Arkansas Legal Services and as an instructor at the University of Arkansas School of Law at the same time Clinton was teaching there. He served on the Clinton transition team for the Energy Department.
See FXRC, page84 27
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From FERC, page17 Those who know Massey de scribe him as a low-key lobbyist and a centrist who works effectively behind the scenes. His most prominent client is Entergy Corp, on whose behalf he lobbied on the issues of regional integrated resource planning and regional transmission groups during the 1992 energy act development. “I’m not troubled by his Rntergy connection,” says a publit power official. “As a lawyer, he doesn’t necessarily believe all thethingsheissayingonhisclient’s behalf. Also, Entergy has been positioning itself as one of the more progressive utilities these days, after years of being a traditional IOU dinosaur”
NEWS’ZN
F
working very smart, very easy to get along with/ says a former colleague on the Senate committee. “In many ways, he reminds me of Betsy, except he has a better sense of humor.” A gas industry lobbyist describes Santa as “a good, solid guy who knows our industry very well. He’s cool under fire and well respected.” Santa is particularly well experienced in pipeline issues, one of the major items on FERC’s regulatory plate. He has not played much of a role on electric utility issues.
Donald Santa
anta, S
nominated to replace Charles Trabandt, has a term that will expire June 30,1997. His nomination follows a tradition that dates back several years: rewarding loyal Senate Energy Committee staff with FRRC appointments. Among those so graced have been Michael Naeve, Trabandt, and Moler. At the committee since 1989, Santa has worked mostly on natural gas issues. Prior to that, he was with the Washington law firm of Van Ness, Feldman, Sutcliffe & Curtis, which has a major energy practice under former FERC chairmanCharles Curtis. Santa gets generally high marks from those who have worked with him in the past. “He’s hard 84
Santa’s nomination was a surprise, since he had not played much of a role in the major controversies involved in the 1992 energy act. Many veteran Washington watchers had expected Santa’s counterpart on the electric side of the committee, Bill Conway, to get an appointment as a reward for his work on Public Utility Holding Company Act reform Because the law requires that the party in power have no more than three of the five FERC seats, Santa is described as an “inde pendent.”
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James Hoecker Hoe&r’s nomination is for the unexpired term of Branko Terzic, ending June 30,199s. He is a Democrat He was active in the Clintoncampaignoftenservingas a surrogate for Clinton on energy issues Hoe&r brings a wealth of FERC experience to the table. He is the first former FERC staffer to be named to the commission,where heservedfmm1979to19%3inavariety of positions in the office of generalcounselandaslegaladvisor to CommissionersMatthew Holden and Georgianna Sheldon. Since leaving FERC, he has been associated with the Washington office of the law firm of Jones, Day Reavis & rogue, working mostly on natural gas issues. LL wetalkedtohim,he w”” kept bringing up parallels betweenelectricityand the natural gasindustry-Onler636andthat sort of thing,” said a public power officialwhometwithHoeckerre cent@ “Overall, I was favorably impresseda.ndIexpecthimtobe pragmatic, methodical and nonideological. Also, he said he be lievesboth in case work and in rulemaking. He said FERC has been doing things the wmng way by tryingtodoallitsrulemakingona case-by-caseapproach.” “I’m more concerned about Betsy,” said the official. “She hasn’t shown much leadership and she seems to be prone to change her mind. We need vision at FERC and we aren’t getting it. You don’t get there by little steps, the way she has been moving.” -Kennedy l? Maize The Electricity Journal