UNM Press Release

Nov. 12, 2003

UNM LAW PROFESSOR NAMED TO FEDERAL ENERGY BOARD

University of New Mexico Professor of Law Suedeen Kelly has been confirmed a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the entity responsible for transmission of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce, wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and licensing of hydroelectric facilities.

"I am honored that the U.S. Senate has confirmed me to this position, and I am looking forward to working with the other four commissioners on the many energy issues pending at the commission that are of concern to New Mexico and the country," she said.

Kelly, an Albuquerque resident, replaces an outgoing commissioner and will serve the remainder of a five-year term, expiring June 2004. She will move to Washington and hopes to be appointed to another term.

On leave from UNM until fall 2005, Kelly teaches energy law, public utility regulation, legislative process and administrative law and practice. Kelly's scholarship is focused on energy policy issues, including resources providers and regulations. She is especially interested in electricity and renewable energy, increasingly of note to the national economy.

On a recent sabbatical she worked at the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. She also spent eight months as regulatory counsel for the California Independent System Operator, charged with managing the first state-wide, integrated electricity transmission system and real-time market for electricity. During her time in California, the state experienced its devastating energy crisis as it embarked upon deregulation of the electric utility industry.

Kelly began her career in environmental law in a Washington, D.C. firm where she was a litigator in the federal courts and in EPA agency proceedings. She then worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council before moving to Albuquerque.

In New Mexico, Kelly established her own environmental law practice. She has served as the state Public Utility Commission chair, as a PUC commissioner, and with the New Mexico Attorney General's Office public utilities division.

At the UNM School of Law, she served as editor-in-chief of the Natural Resources Journal for five years.

Kelly, a graduate of the University of Rochester and Cornell Law School, is also currently in private practice at the Modrall Law Firm.

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