WASHINGTON, D.C. - The full Senate approved President Bush’s nominations for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today by unanimous consent. Also approved by the Senate were the nominations of several key Department of Energy positions, including Lee Sara Liberman Otis to be General Counsel, Francis S. Blake to Deputy Secretary, Robert Gordon Card to be Under Secretary, Bruce Marshall Carnes to be Chief Financial Officer and David Garman as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “As the nation moves into the hot summer months, leadership on energy issues is badly needed. Both Commissioners Brownell and Wood will be able to immediately step in and begin to address some of the significant issues pending before the FERC. Among those issues, the relicensing of hydro-electric facilities, and the electricity situation in California,” said Chairman Frank H. Murkowski. Until her nomination by President Bush to serve as a FERC Commissioner, Nora Mead Brownell was a Commissioner on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. She was appointed in 1997 by Governor Tom Ridge, and was President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissoners (NARUC). Prior to her service to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Ms. Brownell served as the Executive Director of the Regional Performing Arts Center in Philadelphia. She is a native of Eerie, Pennsylvania and attended Syracuse University. Hailing from Texas, Patrick Henry Wood has served as Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas since 1995. Prior to his service as a member of the Texas Public Utility Commission, Wood served as a FERC staff member from 1991 until 1993, and as legal counsel to the Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission. The Port Arthur, Texas native received a degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M, and a law degree from Harvard University. ###