{"id":278,"date":"2021-02-22T19:32:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T19:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/finalists-for-the-position-of-chair-of-the-public-utilities-commission\/"},"modified":"2021-02-22T19:32:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T19:32:18","slug":"finalists-for-the-position-of-chair-of-the-public-utilities-commission","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/finalists-for-the-position-of-chair-of-the-public-utilities-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"Finalists for the position of Chair of the Public Utilities Commission"},"template":"","class_list":["post-278","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":null,"article_type":153,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7876}","{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":12163}"],"related_issues":[105,423],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"On January 20, Governor Mike DeWine sent a letter to the Public Utilities of Ohio (PUCO) Nominating Council requesting a list of additional candidates to consider to fill the position created by the abrupt departure of Sam Randazzo as chair of the panel that regulates Ohio utilities.<\/span>\r\n\r\nOn February 19, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) Nominating Council sent Gov. DeWine a list of four finalists they deem qualified to fill the vacancy.\u00a0 DeWine has 30 days to nominate one of them or select from a prior list of recommendations.<\/span>\r\n\r\nClearly, selecting a new PUCO member outside the influence of FirstEnergy or others that are regulated by the PUCO is of the highest priority. The PUCO chair must be someone who will, first and foremost, represent the interests of Ohio consumers.<\/span>\r\n\r\nFinalists sent to Gov. DeWine on February 19:<\/b>\r\n\r\nJennifer French<\/b>\r\n\r\nFrench, a Republican, is a former Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge, whose cover letter states, \"<\/span>Although I claim no expertise in public utility matters, throughout my professional career I have been able to make thoughtful, conscientious decision on complex and difficult matters after carefully listening to all sides.\"<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe also volunteered that she does not \u201chold any stocks or bonds in any regulated utility\u2019\u2019 \u2013 a disclosure that follows reports that Randazzo received a questionable $4 million payment from First Energy shortly before Gov. DeWine appointed him PUCO chair.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn 2020, French received a \u201chighly recommended\u2019\u2019 rating from the Columbus Bar Association Judicial Screening Committee. Before becoming a judge, she was a lawyer in private practice, served on Westerville City Council from 2011-2015, and was Vice Mayor of Westerville from 2013-2015.<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe has a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal justice from The Ohio State University and a law degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nVirginia King<\/b>\r\n\r\nKing is a Republican who is assistant general counsel at Marathon Petroleum. She is the Refining Sustaining Manager responsible for developing engineering and business strategies to lower the carbon footprint of Marathon\u2019s products and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHer cover letter touts her experience in both chemical engineering and the law, coupled with what she calls \u201c35 years of industry experience.\u2019\u2019<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe has a bachelor\u2019s degree in chemical engineering and a law degree, both from the University of Toledo.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMelissa Schilling<\/b>\r\n\r\nMelissa Shilling is a Republican who currently chairs the three-member Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC). The Commission hears and resolves appeals resulting from technical and legal decisions taken by the Director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), the Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the State Fire Marshal, the State Emergency Response Commission, and county and local boards of health.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMembers are appointed by the governor for staggered six-year terms and are required to have experience in pollution control and abatement technology, ecology, public health, environmental law, and the economics of natural resource development.<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe compared her experience on the commission to the PUCO\u2019s mission to assure all residential and business consumers have access to adequate, safe, and reliable utility services at fair prices saying, \u201cERAC strives to establish a reliable environmental scaffold to support Ohio\u2019s growth for years to come.\u2019\u2019<\/span>\r\n\r\nHer resume notes that her prior legal experience includes ethics and employment counsel at the OEPA and assistant law director for the City of Newark, and her political credentials include stints on the Licking County GOP\u2019s executive and central committees and two terms on her local school board.<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe has a bachelor\u2019s degree from Ashland University and a law degree from Capital University.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nDaniel Shields<\/b>\r\n\r\nShields is a political independent who brings much-needed consumer credentials with his current job as director of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel's analytical department.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn his cover letter, Shields states that he has \u201cnearly seven years experience at the Office of the Ohio Consumers\u2019 Counsel (OCC) and over 30 years of experience at the PUCO. \u2018\u2019 The OCC is the state agency responsible for representing residential utility customers before the PUCO.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe has been in his current position since 2014 and is responsible for formulating and administering the agency\u2019s accounting, economic, and financial analyses associated with utility rate filings and other matters that affect Ohio\u2019s residential utility consumers.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe is a former PUCO\u2019s liaison to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and he has led teams at the PUCO to implement federal laws and policies that include the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Telecommunications Act of 1996.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cMy experience and leadership at the OCC and the PUCO to protect Ohio\u2019s utility consumers at the state and federal level will result in extensive contributions as a Commissioner to PUCO\u2019s work to regulate Ohio\u2019s public utilities and to realize its mission,\u2019\u2019 he said in his cover letter.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe has a bachelor\u2019s degree from Ohio University and an MBA from Ashland University.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n
The prior list of finalists sent to the PUCO on December 21 includes:<\/b><\/em><\/h5>\r\nAngela Amos<\/b>\r\n\r\nAmos is a policy adviser at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the independent government agency regulating the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. She joined FERC as a financial analyst in the Office of Energy Market Regulation and now serves as policy adviser to FERC\u2019s West Division, in the Office of Energy Market Regulation.\u00a0 Her duties include providing technical and legal advice to FERC Staff and Commissioner offices.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe is the only Democrat to have made either list of recommended candidates, and her background includes 15 years in the finance and energy industries.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nBefore joining FERC, her jobs included managing a Lehman Brothers energy trading desk and writing research reports on global coal and uranium markets. In her application, she noted past work for international firms where she analyzed how to apply business strategies to different (and sometimes conflicting) energy regulatory frameworks.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn doing her work, Amos says she often refers to the framework of ethics, economics, and the law that she studied in Leadership & Corporate Accountability as a first-year student at the Harvard Business School. \u201cEthically, we have to be mindful when considering the right thing to do. From the legal perspective, FERC has to ensure our regulations will hold up in court\u2014but those regulations also have to protect the markets, which brings in the economic lens. At the end of the day, the businesses that provide energy have to make money to survive. And customers need to pay, but the rate must be just and reasonable\u2014provisions exist so citizens can get the energy they need to live,\u201d she wrote in information provided with her application.<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe has an undergraduate degree in Afro-American Studies and Government at Harvard, and an MBA from Harvard.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nGreg Poulos<\/b>\r\n\r\nPoulos \u2013 a political Independent \u2013 is the only finalist for the PUCO opening with a history of working both for the state agency that advocates for residential utility customers and for a company that helps businesses access clean energy solutions.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe was recommended to fill the vacancy by Common Cause Ohio and the Ohio Consumers\u2019 Counsel, the state agency that advocates for residential utility customers before the PUCO.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSince 2017, he has been Executive Director of the Consumer Advocates of the PJM States (CAPS), a non-profit organization whose members represent over 61-million consumers in the 13 PJM states and the District of Columbia. CAPS boasts that regulatory rules vary greatly across the state jurisdictions, but notes that \u201cEngagement by CAPS at PJM is necessary to ensure that consumers' voices are heard.\u2019\u2019<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe previously served as Director of Regulatory affairs for EnerNOC. Rebranded as <\/span>Enel X, the company<\/span><\/a> says it helps companies \u201cprovide integrated, sustainable energy solutions to optimize and monetize their energy use. \u2018\u2019<\/span>\r\n\r\nFrom 2007-2012, Poulos was the assistant Consumers\u2019 Counsel where he served as the lead for comprehensive retail utility litigation before the PUCO. He oversaw everything from complex policy issues to settlement negotiations. The <\/span>Office of the Ohio Consumers\u2019 Counsel (OCC)<\/span><\/a> is the statewide agency that advocates for consumers in proceedings before the PUCO. From 1999-2007, he worked in various capacities for the Ohio Attorney General, including stints in the charitable and environmental enforcement sections.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe has a bachelor\u2019s degree from Miami University and a law degree from The Ohio State University.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAnn Vogel<\/b>\r\n\r\nVogel, a Republican, served as assistant policy director for energy and natural resources for Gov. Mike DeWine, and her PUCO application lists her policy areas as including both natural resources and energy. In her application she wrote, \u201cI work closely with the many stakeholders across the state of Ohio and nationally on energy policy matters.\u2019\u2019<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe does not list her views on the nuclear bailout law at the center of the FBI probe, but she served as DeWine\u2019s energy adviser at the time that he appointed Randazzo to serve as PUCO chair and as the bailout bill (House Bill 6) was debated and signed into law by the governor.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nPrior to joining DeWine\u2019s staff, she worked for American Electric Power, the Columbus-based electric utility that stands to benefit from the bailout. Her resume shows that she held a variety of legal and regulatory roles for AEP, ending her tenure as\u00a0 Managing Director, Federal Government Affairs.<\/span>\r\n\r\nOn her financial disclosure statements, she shows investments of over $1,000 in common stock for several electric utilities, including AEP, Exelon, and FirstEnergy Corp.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAfter joining DeWine as his energy adviser, Vogel lobbied on several energy-related bills including Bill 6, which provided millions in coal plant subsidies that benefit AEP.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nJudith French is no longer under consideration. Gov. DeWine appointed French to serve as the director of the Ohio Department of Insurance.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nNext steps<\/b>\r\n\r\nGov. DeWine has 30 days to select someone from the list announced Feb. 19 or select from a prior list of finalists. The candidates are vying for a partial term expiring in April 2024 \u2013 a seat that opened after Randazzo\u2019s November resignation.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe appointment is subject to Senate approval and comes with a salary range of $73,715-$195,728 to be set by the governor.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSam Randazzo\u2019s departure came days after an FBI raid on his home and disclosure of the $4 million from FirstEnergy to an unnamed regulator that fits Randazzo\u2019s description. Since then the company has reported to the Security and Exchange Commission <\/span>that the contract \"may have been for purposes other than those represented within the consulting agreement.<\/span>"}}]},"yoast_head":"\nFinalists for the position of Chair of the Public Utilities Commission - Common Cause Ohio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/finalists-for-the-position-of-chair-of-the-public-utilities-commission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finalists for the position of Chair of the Public Utilities Commission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/finalists-for-the-position-of-chair-of-the-public-utilities-commission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Ohio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/OH.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/finalists-for-the-position-of-chair-of-the-public-utilities-commission\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/finalists-for-the-position-of-chair-of-the-public-utilities-commission\/\",\"name\":\"Finalists for the position of Chair of the Public Utilities Commission - 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