Editorial: Utility regulators squabbling

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 10:13 a.m.

The word "turmoil" is probably the best way to describe the current state of the Public Utilities Commission. Clashes have escalated increasingly in recent years among commissioners who serve on this important regulatory agency. These divisions on occasion have become irreparable, with commissioners sometimes refusing to even speak to one another. The feuding naturally has worried consumers, businesses and utilities about the ability of the commissioners to be effective regulators.

Part of the reason for the tension among commissioners is that the regulation of utilities has undergone a dramatic transformation, as deregulation has sparked a sharp debate among policymakers over how much control regulators should exert over gas, electric and phone companies. But the changing regulatory environment isn't the principal reason for the confrontations -- most of this can be attributed to a failure by members of the commission to simply get along with one another.

After Kenny Guinn was elected governor last year, political observers wondered how the former utility executive would respond to the infighting on the commission. It didn't take long to find out. As the Sun's Cy Ryan noted in a Monday story about the upheaval at the commission, Guinn's administration kept Commission Chairwoman Judy Sheldrew from testifying before the 1999 Legislature (Sheldrew privately had expressed reservations that an electric deregulation bill being drafted would not adequately protect consumers). And last week the Republican governor demoted Sheldrew, a Democrat, naming Don Soderberg, a Republican, as chairman. Then just days after being appointed chairman, Soderberg fired two of the highest ranking employees of the commission's staff, including its director, who were viewed as having ties to Sheldrew.

Sheldrew's tenure on the commission has been pro-consumer, benefiting the public. But she also has been controversial and polarizing, sometimes alienating other commissioners, including her allies. It is Guinn's prerogative as governor to select who he wants to lead the commission, so he had every right to remove Sheldrew as chairwoman. But Guinn and his staff need to be careful not to interfere with the internal workings of a commission that is supposed to be an independent regulatory agency.

In the past, utilities have criticized the commission's staff as being pro-consumer -- as if somehow that is bad. With deregulation gaining steam, consumers will look to the commission to protect their interests just as much as that of the utilities. So Soderberg's dismissal of two longtime, highly respected employees, is not an encouraging sign. Still, it is hoped that the commission can right itself and chart a stable course so it will regain the public's trust that it can once again effectively regulate utilities.