Utilities Head Smith Wants Energy Post Regulatory Panel Doesn’t Have West Representative

Idaho Public Utilities Commissioner Marsha Smith seeks a presidential appointment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, saying there is no representative from the West.

The five-member commission has two openings, one for a Democrat and one for a Republican. It oversees electric issues, including the relicensing of Idaho Power Co. dams on the Snake River.

Smith said the regulatory commission needs a regional balance.

“I am explaining my interest and abilities,” she said. “They consider a lot of things, including politics, and who knows.”

Then-Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus appointed Smith to the PUC in 1991 after she worked eight years as its deputy attorney general and two as policy director. Republican Gov. Phil Batt reappointed her in January.

Former Idaho Sen. Mary Lou Reed said she understands there are a number of strong candidates for the openings.

“But at one point, Marsha was the only candidate from a rural state who is also a woman,” said the Coeur d’Alene Democrat whose son, Scott, is Clinton’s chief domestic policy adviser.

“To have a strong representative from a Western state would bring a lot to the commission at the time when the relicensing of the dams is up for its decision-making,” Reed said.