This release came out at FERC late last night.

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:                                       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hedley Burrell						September 18, 2001
(202) 208-0680 
                  
                    FERC CHAIRMAN WOOD NAMES PERSONAL STAFF

Chairman Pat Wood, III of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today named four top aides who will serve in his office and help him and his fellow commissioners shape the direction of the Commission.

"I am delighted to have found people of this caliber," Chairman Wood declared.  "I know that they will bring short- and long-term insights to our policy making that will be invaluable as we tackle the challenging energy issues that face our country.   With these outstanding individuals in place, we are off to a good start and I am confident that this team will help us bring the benefits of fair and genuine competition to the nation's energy customers."

Named to the Chairman's staff were advisors Lawrence D. Crocker, III, Robert E. Gramlich, Alison Silverstein and Andrew K. Soto.

Mr. Crocker has more than 11 years' experience in the regulatory arena, including major responsibilities in administrative law, utility regulation, and government operations.   Since 1999, he had served as senior attorney-advisor for the Office of General Counsel of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia.  He served as managing attorney for the D.C. Commission's electric industry restructuring program and represented the Commission before federal agencies and in the courts.   Concurrently, on a consulting basis, he served as hearing officer for the Council of the City of New Orleans.   He presided over the Council's gas deregulation proceedings, customer protection and utility mergers.   He also served as presiding officer in regulatory hearings and conducted pre-hearing conferences.  Earlier, he was general counsel for the D.C. Public Schools and acting general counsel for the D.C. Public Service Commission.  In 1989 and 1990, he served as hearing officer/staff attorney at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.  He is a graduate of Howard University School of Law and has a bachelor of arts degree from Washington & Lee University.

Mr. Gramlich served as market and policy analyst at FERC, PJM, and the PG&E National Energy Group.   He was Senior Economist in the PJM Market Monitoring Unit, where he monitored the competitiveness and efficiency of power markets.  In the FERC Office of Economic Policy, he advised on market power, market rules, and Regional Transmission Organization policies.   He has also held positions at the California Public Utilities Commission, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the World Resources Institute.   He has a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in economics from Colby College.

Ms. Silverstein has experience in the central issues involved in energy industry operations and restructuring.   She was advisor to Chairman Wood for the past six years when he headed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and was active in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.   During this period, the Texas Commission presided over the transformation of the state's electric industry into a sound competitive wholesale market as well as moving Texas' telecommunications industry to retail competition.    She advised the Chairman on most facets of wholesale and retail market design.  From 1984 to 1994, she held a number of positions with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in San Francisco, including supervisor of information and communications services and senior communication planner.    She also served as an operations research analyst with the U.S. Department of the Interior in the 1970s.  Ms. Silverstein holds a master of business administration degree from Stanford University, an MSE in systems analysis and economics from The Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from The Johns Hopkins University.			

Mr. Soto joined FERC in 1998 and had served as appellate litigation attorney in the Office of the Solicitor, representing the Commission in complex litigation before U.S. Courts of Appeals and other federal courts.   He previously had his own energy industry law practice in Portland, Oregon.  Earlier, from 1994 to 1997, he was with Ball Janik, LLP in Portland.   He was general counsel to Energy Services, Inc., on retainer from Ball Janik, for much of 1997 and earlier was an associate representing power marketers and the industrial customers of the Bonneville Power Administration.  As an associate with Newman & Holtzinger, P.C., in Washington, D.C., from 1989 to 1994, he represented energy companies before FERC and other federal agencies and courts.   From 1987 to 1989, he served as a law clerk in the Office of Administrative Law Judges at the U.S. Department of Labor.  He graduated from Villanova University School of Law and has a bachelor of arts degree from Franklin & Marshall College.

R-01-39                                                       (30)