Energy watchdog still on the ball

Roger Ball learned early to think for himself, a trait sparked by his upbringing in Cornwall, England.

In Cornwall, where Atlantic gales pound against giant granite cliffs, people are less inclined to attach themselves to a particular political party, he said, and are more likely to view themselves as nonconformists — independent-minded, rugged individualists, willing to question anyone.

Ball's maverick style served him well during eight years as executive director of Utah's Committee of Consumer Services.

Until March, when Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. fired Ball.

Huntsman has not offered an official reason for the firing, except to note it was the prerogative of a new governor to replace political appointees. But one Huntsman transition team member, who recommended that Ball be fired, characterized Ball as a "pit bull," whose dogmatic approach to people and issues was simply the wrong style.

The firing outraged many consumers, who viewed the action as an attempt to weaken the consumer committee.

"When it comes to utilities that can double the cost of service in just a few years, I want a pit bull, someone who answers to nobody, doing battle for me," Ken Hollen, a South Jordan resident, said in a letter to the editor at the time of Ball's firing. "Gov. Jon Huntsman has made a huge mistake in firing Ball."

Since then, Ball has moved on with his life, billing himself as a private consultant on consumer issues, although he is unwilling to name his clients.

But his passions still run high when it comes to soaring utility rates and the price Utahns will be asked to bear.

Playing favorites?

In Utah, Ball maintains, legislators and government regulators pay more attention to the interests of big industry and monopoly utilities than to residential consumers.

"I always got the feeling that utility lobbyists could get a hearing any time they wanted to and did, and I always got the feeling that the Committee of Consumer Services was barely tolerated," Ball said. "In the eight years that I was there, I was probably approached two or three times by a legislator who wanted the committee perspective on something."

Leslie Reberg, who replaced Ball as executive director of the consumer committee, said since assuming her job in April she has taken a proactive approach in seeking out legislators, holding one-on-one meetings with 17 lawmakers on committee positions.