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Obama accused of placing anti-hydrocarbon ideologues in top regulator jobs.
Obama nominates new FERC chairman
By Davide Savenije
JANUARY 30, 2014
The suspense is over. After months of speculation, President Obama has nominated Norman Bay to lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The White House originally tabbed former head of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Ron Binz to replace exiting Chairman Jon Wellinghoff in June 2013. But Binz soon met his end in the Senate Energy Committee after coal-country Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) crucially refused to support his nomination.
<snip>
...The spokesman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said: “Sen. Murkowski has not yet had a chance to fully review the nomination, but its noteworthy that the president has chosen to elevate to the post of chairman — over clearly qualified commissioners — a FERC employee who has not served on the commission. It’s also curious that the president has for the second time this Congress identified someone he believes should jump over the sitting commissioners.”
...“The FERC is no place for anti-hydrocarbon ideologues like Ron Binz, and we stood strong with our coalition partners against his ultimately doomed confirmation,” American Energy Alliance President Thomas Pyle said in a statement following Bay's nomination. “The announcement today that the White House will nominate Norman Bay is due the same level of scrutiny that was applied to Mr. Binz, and we are hopeful that his confirmation process will leave no stone unturned.”
...
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/obama-nominates-new-ferc-chairman/222039/
