Dive Brief:

• Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) last week selected Columbus attorney Howard Petricoff to serve a four-year term at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, though the appointment is still subject to confirmation by the state Senate, the Columbus Dispatch reports. 
• If confirmed, Petricoff would join two Republicans and two independents on the commission. The Columbus Dispatch points out it would be the first time in a year PUCO has had a Democratic member.
• PUCO Chairman Andre Porter resigned last month for a position in the private sector. Kasich named Commissioner Asim Haque to fill his role, opening the vacancy that Petricoff would fill. 

Dive Insight:

Petricoff has decades of energy experience, including a 7-year stint on the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission, but it remains to be seen if the nomination will go smoothly as some lawmakers have expressed concern with the attorney's past.

“Senators have expressed some concerns about Mr. Petricoff’s inability to hear many of the cases pending before the commission due to conflicts of interest involving past legal work, as well as raised questions about his ability to make neutral decisions given his past activism," Senate President Keith Faber (R) said via a statement, the news outlet reported. 

While Faber did not elaborate on the concerns, they could include past work Petricoff has done for the wind industry, according to the news outlet.

Gov. Kasich brushed off any concerns in his announcement, saying the nominee is "exceptionally well versed in how these issues impact economic growth and job creation. I look forward to the expertise he will bring to the commission."

Currently an adjunct professor of natural resources and energy law at the Capital University Law School, Petricoff is also co-director of the school’s Midwest Energy Law & Policy Center. He was chair of the Ohio State Bar Association’s natural resources committee in 2005-2006 and served as an assistant Ohio attorney general from 1977 to 1982.

Ohio law bars the commission from having more than three members from any one party. While the new chair, Haque, is an independent, the Columbus Dispatch previously reported he voted in the Democratic primary in 2004 and 2008.