Fenty Faces Another Heated Confirmation Battle

Peter Nickles redux?

Not quite, but Mayor Adrian M. Fenty isn't going to have an easy time getting his nominee to chair the Public Service Commission through the D.C. Council.

In June, Fenty nominated Lori "Missy" Murphy Lee to the post, which leads a regulatory body with broad authority over electric, natural gas and telecommunications companies operating in the District.

The Washington Post did a brief item in October, but Lee's nomination has more or less sailed under the radar until recent days. Yesterday, Friends of the Earth, a local environmental activist group, sent a mass e-mail asking its allies to oppose Lee's confirmation and either testify before the council or submit a written statement. And today, the local chapter of the Sierra Club dispatched a note to the opposing the nomination. (The enviros are concerned about the commission's role in promoting green energy concerns.)

A hearing on the nomination is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon before the public services and consumer affairs committee, headed by Mary M. Cheh, who voted against Nickles' confirmation as attorney general last month. Assuming the committee sends it along, a full council vote on Lee's nomination could come at the Dec. 16 legislative meeting.

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