Few who deal with the state Public Utilities Commission expect the agency to veer substantially from its recent pro-business course after the departure of hard-driving Susan Kennedy, named Wednesday as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief of staff.
But many figure the agency will become more collegial and, possibly, more effective as it tries to balance the interests of consumers against those of power and phone companies.
"She was such a polarizing factor," said John Sumpter, regulatory affairs executive at phone company Pac-West Telecomm Inc. in Stockton. "Sometimes it only takes one personality to leave for the chemistry to change dramatically."
Blunt-talking and strong-willed, Kennedy herself said last spring that she was suited less to the give-and-take of the five-member PUC than to the command and control of the executive suite, where she was once deputy chief of staff to Gov. Gray Davis.
Her aggressive approach pleased energy and telecom executives, who saw her as instrumental in pushing policies more friendly to business through the PUC. For example, she orchestrated the ongoing revision of the state's telecommunications rules, largely to the liking of California's two dominant phone companies.
"I don't know of any consumers who are going to shed any tears over her departure," said Mindy Spatt, spokeswoman for the Utility Reform Network.
Kennedy will have considerable sway over the appointment of her replacement.
"She'll be our sixth commissioner," said Commissioner Geoffrey F. Brown. "She's going to be calling all the plays."
Both business and consumer groups expect Schwarzenegger to appoint a candidate who, like Kennedy, believes in taking regulatory shackles off big businesses and letting the markets determine their fate.
Names emerging Wednesday as successors to Kennedy included Joseph Desmond, whose term as chairman of the state Energy Commission ends this year; Robert Lane, an aide to PUC member John Bohn, and former state Sen. Byron Sher, who has written several landmark environmental bills.
Kennedy accomplished much of what she set out to do when Davis appointed her nearly three years ago to swing PUC policy toward business. The commission historically was split more between consumer and business interests than along party lines.
