Member of PSC won't return

After serving for 10 years, Connie White will not be reappointed to the Utah Public Service Commission, a three-member body charged with overseeing the state's utilities.

White's term ended Feb. 28. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is expected to announce her replacement today.

White, 50, an attorney by profession, was only the second woman to sit on the commission since its formation in 1917. Milly O. Bernard, the first woman commissioner, served from 1976 to 1982.

White was appointed to the commission in 1995 by former Gov. Mike Leavitt to serve a four-year term. She was reappointed in 1999 to a six-year term. Prior to her appointment, she worked as executive director for the Utah Department of Commerce.

"I know that people don't hold these jobs forever," White said. "My time's up. I'm sorry to see that go just because I have loved the job so much."

The commission's authority is far-reaching, as it sets prices consumers pay to heat their homes, run their air conditioners and make telephone calls.

A recent commission decision passed on $51 million in increased electricity rates to Utah Power customers.

Steve Mecham, an attorney who served on the commission from 1989 to 2003 and was the commission's chairman from October 1992 to May 2003, said White did a tremendous job.

"She really worked at trying to do what she thought was right," Mecham said. "We obviously had disagreements from time to time, that's the nature of the job, but through it all we were able to come away with a good friendship and good working relationship."

White said she believed she brought to the position "common sense" and a balance between competing interests of utilities and consumers.

"If the commission has a reputation for trying to be fair and trying to have some common sense and trying to do things right, then I would be very proud of that," White said. "I was able to participate on the national and even international level with our association of state commissions."

Scott Gutting, executive director of the Utah Association of Energy Users, whose 40 members spend more than $250 million annually on natural gas and electricity, said it is crucial that the next commissioner understand that utility rates determine the economic climate for the state.