Governor O'Malley Announces Larsen Returning to Private Sector;
Nazarian to Succeed as PSC Chair
“The turnaround at the PSC is complete,” Larsen says
ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 10, 2008) – Governor Martin O’Malley, joined by Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, today announced that Steven B. Larsen will be stepping down as chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) in August to return to the private sector, and that the Commission’s General Counsel, Doug Nazarian, will succeed Larsen as chairman of the revitalized regulatory agency.
“I feel very strongly that the turnaround at the PSC is complete,” said Larsen, who will be returning to his job as Senior Vice President for Government Affairs with Amerigroup. “While we all know there is still a great deal of work ahead, I am very proud that we achieved the fundamental goal of restoring public confidence in the PSC and that Governor O’Malley is nominating a person as capable as Doug Nazarian to continue this important work on behalf of all Maryland’s families.”
Governor O’Malley thanked Larsen, who was re-nominated as PSC chair and confirmed by the Senate earlier this year, for serving as the State’s lead negotiator in the recent $2 billion settlement with Constellation and for his tireless work in overhauling an embattled Public Service Commission that had lost the public’s confidence and had become demoralized internally.
Governor O’Malley also mentioned that when Larsen came to visit him in early 2007, Larsen wasn’t looking to return to State government but rather to introduce himself and offer his services as a citizen who cares about public service.
“I am grateful to Steve for rebuilding Maryland’s PSC and putting Maryland’s watchdog for our families back on the job,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “I didn’t ask Steve to serve a full term as chairman; I asked Steve to turn the agency around to restore the public trust in its regulators, to restore core competencies at the agency, and to always, always stand up to the powerful, wealthy special interests who would try to profiteer on the backs of the working people of our State. In just 16 months, our new PSC has accomplished a tremendous amount – securing more than $2 billion in immediate and long-term rate relief for our families – and I know that work will continue under Doug Nazarian as Chairman.”
“I am grateful to Governor O’Malley for the opportunity to serve as Chairman of the PSC. I have learned a tremendous amount from Chairman Larsen and all the Commissioners, and I look forward to continuing the important work the PSC is doing on behalf of all Marylanders,” said Doug Nazarian.
During the first 16 months of the O’Malley-Brown Administration, the Maryland Public Service Commission has:
- Rebuilt the embattled agency hiring a new management team of experienced professionals and retained outside experts on key issues to serve the interests of the people of the State.
- Reached a $2 billion global with Constellation Energy Group providing short and long-term rate relief for our families, and helping to secure Maryland’s energy future.
- Filed and won a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on unfair electricity market rules. In response to the complaint filed, FERC concluded that “unjust and unreasonable” market rules cost Maryland ratepayers an additional $87.5 million in 2006. Due to the PSC’s complaint FERC has ordered a discontinuation of the pricing structure which produced this imbalance, saving Maryland ratepayers $85 million a year.
- Filed and won a complaint with FERC arguing that PJM International inappropriately sought to increase components of wholesale capacity charges without proper input from stakeholders and without following proper procedures.
- Filed a complaint with FERC challenging the imposition of unreasonable “capacity” payments for the period June 2008 through May 2011. The complaint, filed by a broad coalition called the RPM Buyers, estimates that electricity users in the PJM region, which spans 13 states and the District of Columbia, will pay approximately $12 billion in unjust and unreasonable capacity charges over the next three years. Maryland’s share of these overpayments is approximately $2 billion for all purchasers over the three-year period.
- Issued several Orders to utilities to file energy conservation plans to comply with EmPOWER Maryland energy goals.
- Took regulatory action to mitigate rate increases of up to 40% for certain small businesses and limiting increases to 15%.
- Approved major electricity demand reduction strategies for major utilities that will save more than 900 megawatts of peak demand by 2011-2012, which is effectively equivalent to more than one new power plant in the state.
- Initiated investigations into service quality issues of Verizon, Maryland. As a result, the PSC issued an Order requiring improvements to Verizon’s service and reporting.
Doug Nazarian came to the Public Service Commission in June 2007, as General Counsel, from Hogan & Hartson L.L.P., where he was a litigation partner and the partner in charge of the Baltimore Office’s pro bono practice.
At Hogan & Hartson, he maintained a diverse, national litigation practice that included complex business-oriented litigation, government investigations and representations of public entities. He tried cases successfully to juries in the state and federal courts of Maryland, and he appeared in courts, arbitration panels and utility commissions throughout the United States. Among his clients were the Baltimore City Public School System, the State of Maryland, a national telecommunications company, a data mining company, a class of foster children in the State of Alabama, a domestic violence resource center, a Lutheran church in Washington, D.C., as well as other non-profit organization and indigent or incarcerated individuals.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, cum laude, from Yale College in 1988 and his Juris Doctor with honors from the Duke University School of Law in 1991. Nazarian clerked for the Honorable James B. Loken of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He also taught Sales at the University of Maryland School of Law from 1997-2001.
He has served on the Congregation Council of Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore, as well as on the boards of the Christ Church Foundation and Baltimore Outreach Services, Inc., a shelter for homeless women and children. He serves on the Equal Justice Council of the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland, Inc., as a Dean for the CollegeBound Foundation, and on Peer Review Panels for the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission. In 2007, he received the Maryland Pro Bono Service Award from the Maryland Pro Bono Resource Center. He lives in Catonsville, Maryland with his wife and two daughters.
