Consumer advocates hail board appointee

The lawyer had worked for the Ohio Consumers' Council from 1982 to 1992.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- A lawyer who has worked on behalf of both utilities and their consumers was appointed to the state's major regulatory board for electric, natural gas and telephone companies, Gov. Ted Strickland announced Friday.
Paul Centolella of Worthington will replace Judy Jones on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Jones, a commissioner since 1997, did not seek reappointment to the five-member board.
Consumer advocates hailed Centolella's appointment, saying his choice is a win for residential utility customers.
Centolella has been a senior economist at Science Applications International Corp. since 1992. He worked on such issues as energy and environmental analysis and modernizing the nation's electrical grid structure. Failure along the grid was a key component of a 2003 blackout that cut power to millions of people in the Northeast.
From 1982 to 1992, Centolella was a senior policy adviser and lawyer for the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, which represents residential customers in rate cases.
Experience
Centolella said he believes his work in the electric utility field will be helpful to the commission, which soon must consider how to bring power providers out of a period of transition from regulated monopolies to a competitive market.
"I look at my role as one of bringing experience and expertise in energy markets and electricity specifically," Centolella said. "There are some important issues that will be coming before the commission in the coming years."
Consumer advocates, often at odds with commission rulings, said Centolella's voice will be important.
"We are very pleased with Gov. Strickland's appointment of Paul Centolella to the commission. Paul is very knowledgeable on energy issues," said current Consumers' Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander, who worked with Centolella at the agency in the early 1980s.
His knowledge of how transmission lines are connected will help in persuading federal energy officials to get the decades-old grid up to date, Migden-Ostrander said.
Ohio Citizen Action Director Sandy Buchanan, who has been critical of commission rulings that she felt favored utilities over consumers, also liked the appointment.
"This is the type of commissioner we need to see," Buchanan said.
Others in the running for the position were Charles Moses, president of the Ohio Telecom Association; Gretchen Hummel, a lawyer who represents Industrial Energy Users-Ohio; and the PUCO's legal director, Paul Duffy.
Praise
Commission Chairman Alan Schriber, who defends the agency's rulings as having kept utility rates stable, said he looks forward to working with Centolella.
"By reputation, I know he's very bright and engaged and knows the issues," Schriber said.
American Electric Power Co., which supplies power to more than 1 million customers in 61 Ohio counties, "appreciates the consideration Gov. Strickland has given to this appointment and we look forward to working with Mr. Centolella," AEP Ohio President Kevin E. Walker said.