Thursday, August 28, 2008

PSC Commissioner Buley resigns

ALBANY, N.Y. - A state Public Service Commission member who was embroiled in several political skirmishes during her two-year tenure says she's resigning next month to get married and move to Kentucky.

Commissioner Cheryl Buley was appointed to the $109,800-a-year position on the PSC by former Republican Gov. George Pataki in June 2006 for a term ending in February 2012.

Her resignation is effective Sept. 3, the day the PSC is to vote on Iberdrola SA's $4.6 billion proposal to buy Energy East. The commission had planned to consider staff recommendations for various conditions on the deal on Wednesday but postponed action because Buley and another of the five commissioners were absent for personal reasons.

Buley told the Times Union of Albany her resignation had nothing to do with the case.

After a series of blackouts in the New York City area in the summer of 2006, Democrats questioned the qualifications of Buley, a former public relations executive then married to a GOP lobbyist who donated thousands of dollars to Republicans.

Buley later accused Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer's energy adviser, Steven Mitnick, of threatening her career.

The PSC sets rates and provides oversight over New York's utilities.

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