PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Gov. Paul LePage’s newest nominee to the Maine Public Utilities Commission shares his view on energy: The source of the energy doesn’t matter as long as it makes economic sense.
Bruce Williamson from the University of Tennessee described himself Monday as an “agnostic” when it comes to the energy source, whether it’s wind, solar, natural gas, coal, oil or something else, as long as it’s cost-effective.
“I’m an economist. I crunch numbers and build models and test assumptions. If it doesn’t make economic sense, then I’ll say that,” said Williamson, who’s spent the last six years at think tanks at the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy that focused on preventing nuclear material from falling into the wrong hands and on improving taxpayer value in defense contracts.
If approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, Williamson would replace former Democratic Gov. John Baldacci appointee David Littell and become part of LePage’s reshaping of the agency that regulates the state’s utilities. Williamson would join LePage appointees Carlie McLean, former chief legal counsel to LePage, and Chairman Mark Vannoy.
LePage, a Republican, says wind power is too expensive and has fought to roll back clean energy goals enacted under his predecessor’s administration. A top priority of the governor has been to expanding access to natural gas to lower costs in a small state that’s saddled with high energy costs.
Critics have accused LePage of overstepping his bounds and meddling in PUC affairs. Regulators voted 2-1 in February to reconsider their earlier decision to grant contracts to two wind projects after LePage had urged the panel to consider proposals from existing resource before approving additional wind deals. The regulators said the economics of the deal may have changed because of falling wholesale energy rates.
On Monday, one of the wind power developers announced it was pulling out of negotiations with regulators, opting instead to try to reach a long-term contract with another New England state or states. A spokesman for Boston-based SunEdison said the decision cost Maine ratepayers up to $35 million in savings.
Jeremy Payne of the Maine Renewable Energy Association said he hopes the new PUC nominee will see the value of such long-term contracts in having the potential to smooth out the peaks and valleys of open-market prices for electricity.
Williamson vowed to be an independent voice.
“Politics and the objectivity of the commission can be separated. Commissions function best nationally when they’re independent, objective and professional. Then there’s more trust and confidence in the decision,” he said.
He said he grew up in a home in New York that used heating oil. Once, in Colorado, he took part in construction of a carbon-neutral passive solar house that demonstrated to him that renewables and energy efficiency can work.
He has a varied resume that includes 10 years with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, now a subsidiary of AT&T, giving him experience modeling in rate cases and deregulated services.
Williamson said he took an interest in the Maine job after Vannoy’s suggestion when they met at American Council of Engineering Companies’ annual Engineering Excellence Awards. Williamson said he didn’t realize at the time that Vannoy was MPUC chairman, thinking only that he was a PUC staff member.
He said he’s looking forward to coming to Maine to talk to people.
“I’m really interested in listening to the stakeholders. I like to listen and learn. So I’m coming there with an open mind - without politics, without an agenda, with an open mind,” he said.
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