Mainebiz

V o l . X X I N o. I Ja N ua r y 1 2 , 2 0 1 5 12 of expanding natural gas lines in Maine and the region. His legacy over 15 years as a utility regulator cuts across virtually every business sector in Maine — including telecommunications rate cases, water utility mergers and efforts to jump-start an offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Maine. Welch's departure also came two months before PUC Commissioner David Littell's term is set to expire in March. Littell, former head of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and a 2010 appointee of former Gov. John Baldacci, has tended to be more supportive of renewable energy initiatives than LePage, who has the option to reappoint Littell to another term — or pick someone more aligned his to his energy policy. Mark Vannoy, another LePage nominee who was appointed to commission in 2012, rounds out the three-member commission. Two members of LePage's staff have been identi- fied as possible PUC nominees: Patrick Woodcock, director of the Governor's Energy Office, who served as senior advisor to the U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe on energy and environmental issues prior to his appoint- ment and has pushed several LePage initiatives to lower energy costs; and Carlisle McLean, the gover- nor's chief legal counsel, who practiced law with the Portland law firm Preti Flaherty from 2005 to 2011, focusing on cases involving compliance of energy and development permits as well as Land Use Regulation Commission rezoning and development permits. In an hour-long interview at the PUC's head- quarters in Hallowell in December, Welch declined to speculate on who might replace him and what it might mean for the state's future energy poli- cies. He focused, instead, on what he regards as the state's overriding energy challenge: expanding the supply of natural gas in New England. "I'm retiring two years early, for entirely personal reasons," Welch, 65, told Mainebiz. "As I've said to others, [laughing], 'I'm older than I thought I would be at this age.' at's just one of several fac- tors. Frankly, it might be time to get some different 'brains' here to work on these issues." e following is an edited transcript of our inter- view with Welch. Mainebiz: You've been credited, in your previous tenure as PUC chairman, with being one of the architects of deregulation of Maine's electricity industry in the 1990s. Tom Welch: Or 'restructuring,' as we prefer to call it. MB: Fair enough. Has restructuring achieved its goals? And if it isn't, is there anything that should be done that might not have been evident in 2000 when Maine's electric utilities sold their generating assets to focus solely on power transmission? TW: e answer is, partly, yes. I think Maine's restruc- turing law is probably the best in the country. e process by which the law was developed and enacted was exceptionally transparent and robust. So I think Maine's law got a lot of things right — in terms of what should be given to the competitive mar- ket to address and what should be continued under Tom Welch, outgoing chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission, in his Hallowell office. Welch oversaw the deregulation of Maine's electricity industry and is widely regarded as an expert on energy policy in New England. p h o t o / r u s s d i l l i n g h a M New year brings change to PUC tom welch reflects on 15 years guiding energy policy in Maine B y J a m e s m c c a r t h y » C o n t i n u e d f r o m C o v e r Restructuring [has shifted] a great deal of the risk of investment away from customers and onto the private side.

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