Senate panel considers 2 PUCO appointments

By Marc Kovac | July 13, 2016 at 12:03a.m.

COLUMBUS

A state Senate panel gathered for a summer session to consider two gubernatorial appointments to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, amid concerns about one of the selections.

At issue is M. Howard Petricoff, a retired attorney and a Democrat who was picked by Gov. John Kasich last month to fill a PUCO vacancy. Petricoff has decades of legal experience in the energy sector and has connections, via filings and other involvement, with past and current cases before the commission.

He and Asim Haque, an independent who was already a member of the commission and who was picked by Kasich to serve as its chairman, appeared Tuesday before the Senate Public Utilities Committee to answer questions about their experience and their appointments.

Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said the summer meeting was necessary, given the number of issues – federal regulatory decisions, amendments sought by AEP and FirstEnergy, groups pushing for more or less utility regulation and a renewable energy mandate decision facing lawmakers – that PUCO is considering.

“There’s probably never been a more important time for Ohio in its electric-energy policy,” Seitz said.

Petricoff served as an assistant attorney general from 1977 to 1982 and has a bachelor’s degree from American University, a master’s in public administration from Harvard and a juris doctor.