When the state?s top utility regulator returns to his old job, he?ll leave behind a commission that energy industry insiders expect will continue its aggressive pursuit of consumer rate relief.
Gov. Martin O?Malley announced Tuesday that Steven Larsen, chairman of the state Public Service Commission, would step down in August to return to health insurance company Amerigroup.
“One of the things the chairman did was bring a change to the regulatory atmosphere at the commission,” said Paula Carmody, state People?s Counsel. “While that change in regulatory atmosphere has taken place … there?s still many issues on the plate.”
Those issues include a complaint filed with federal regulators last week by the PSC and others, which claimed that Baltimore Gas and Electric customers will pay more than $2 billion too much for electricity by 2011. The commission is also set to release a report by the end of the year detailing options for re-regulating Maryland?s electricity market.
But at a news conference Tuesday to announce his departure, Larsen said whether he left in August or several years from now, “we would always be in the middle of something big.”
Doug Nazarian, the PSC?s general counsel, will take over as chairman. His selection minimizes the learning curve faced by a new member, said Russell Frisby, PSC chairman from 1995 to 1998 and spokesman for Marylanders for Reliable Power, a group formed late last month to promote new energy generation in the state.
“It?s the governor?s call, but clearly this is a critical time for Maryland in the area of energy,” Frisby said. “It?s good that Chairman Larsen?s successor will be up to speed on the issues.”
In recent months Larsen led several often-contentious daylong hearings with representatives of Constellation Energy Group. As Nazarian steps into the commission?s top slot, the company urged him to embrace a spirit of cooperation.
“We?re eager to work jointly with the PSC and all stakeholders on solutions that balance the price of energy with our state?s environmental priorities, as well as … requirements for grid reliability,” Constellation spokesman Rob Gould said in a statement. “It?s a very challenging balancing act and, in our view, one that is possible only if we work together.”
