Gov. Martin O?Malley appointed Lawrence Brenner, an administrative law judge with the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency, to the Public Service Commission on Thursday, the fourth member of the five-person board he has been able to appoint in the last month.
The new governor thus accomplished what the Legislature had tried to do last year ? replace the members of a commission that had approved huge electric rate hikes with little public input. Two commission members appointed by Gov. Robert Ehrlich resigned, including a former delegate Brenner is replacing.
O?Malley said he has now reshaped the commission to “serve the public,” as it was intended to do.
“It?s a time of challenge for the public service commission,” said Brenner, a Montgomery County resident with 12 years of experience deciding cases about the sale of energy.
But “challenges bring opportunities,” he said.
“We now see what?s not working” in other states trying to regulate electricity rates, and regulators have a better idea “what needs to be done ? to get out of this crisis mode,” Brenner said. “We?re green enough to believe that the status quo does not have to be.”
O?Malley told reporters at the announcement that he did see any need for additional legal authority from the legislature for the PSC to do its job.
“I will be relying on them to come back to me with recommendations,” if the commission needs other legal tools to help control utility rates, the governor said.
