LITTLE ROCK — Paul Suskie, who as chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission pushed Entergy Arkansas to follow through on its plan to get out of its system agreement with the other electricity utilities in the Entergy Corp. family, resigned Friday to take a job with Southwest Power Pool of Little Rock.

Entergy will lose a tough critic in Suskie.

The system agreement has cost Entergy Arkansas customers more than $4.5 billion since 1985.

Suskie addressed that fact in relentless questioning of Entergy Arkansas’ president, Hugh McDonald, in a March hearing. Entergy Arkansas is considering entering a new arrangement, among several options. In the current one, sister companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas share production costs on a roughly equal basis.

“Can you guarantee 100 percent that the Louisiana Public Service Commission or the city of New Orleans would not [file suit over a new] agreement” even if such a cost-sharing provision were not included, Suskie asked McDonald, who said he could not.

The other major case in which Suskie presided as chairman concerned the construction of a Southwestern Electric Power Co. coal-fired plant in Hempstead County. Suskie voted for the plant in what he called “by far the toughest decision of my public career.” The commission approved the building of the $2.1 billion facility, which is about half-finished and still fighting legal battles.

Suskie will become general counsel and senior vice president of policy at Southwest Power Pool, a nonprofit organization that operates the electric transmission grid in a nine-state region. His resignation is immediate, he said.

Southwest Power Pool approached him Monday about taking the position, Suskie said. He decided Friday to take it, informing Gov. Mike Beebe, who will appoint another commissioner to serve with Colette Honorable and Olan Reeves and will choose a chairman from among the three. Suskie’s term expires at the end of 2012. All three were appointed by Beebe.

Southwest Power Pool is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and not the state commission.

Suskie earned $110,000 a year as chairman of the commission. He said he’ll receivea raise, but he declined to indicate what his new salary will be.

“[Southwest Power Pool] performs a public service that I have a lot of passion about, having an independent operation of our electric grid,”Suskie said.

He will work on policy issues on the federal level and will not represent the pool before state public service commissions,Suskie said. He was city attorney for North Little Rock for 10 years before joining the commission.

His new job should not be as time-consuming as serving as chairman of the state commission, allowing him to spend more time with his wife and two children, Suskie said.

Suskie became chairman of the state commission in January 2007, replacing Sandra Hochstetter, now Sandra Byrd, who remained on the commission. Six months later, Byrd resigned from the commission to take a position with Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Corp. in Little Rock.

Suskie was instrumental in forming the Entergy Regional State Committee, which provides input from regulators in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas on the operation of Entergy Corp.’s transmission system. Suskie was the committee’s first chairman.

“His ability to bring the states together to focus onsome of these Entergy issues was a phenomenal job,” said David Cruthirds, a Houston regulatory lawyer and publisher of an energy newsletter. “Especially considering some of these states don’t necessarily agree on the issues. But he was able to use considerable diplomacy and statesmanship to help bring it together.”

The Entergy system agreement case will continue at least through next year.

Entergy Arkansas said in 2005, before Suskie became chairman, that it would withdraw from Entergy Corp.’s system agreement in December 2013.

“Since I’ve been at the commission, clearly we’re concerned about what Entergy does come 2013,” Suskie said Friday. “My term [would have] ended in 2012. So I wouldn’t have even been here when [Entergy leaves the system agreement].”

Southwest Power Pool serves as an independent coordinator of transmission for Entergy Corp., though the utility is not actually a member of the pool.

A federally funded study suggested that the Arkansas utility’s customers would benefit from joining an organization such as Southwest Power Pool.

SWEPCO PLANT

The commission approved SWEPCO’s construction of the Hempstead County coal plant in 2007.

But the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled unanimously last year that the commission erred in approving construction of the plant. The Arkansas Supreme Court unanimously upheld that decision in May.

“Certainly we spent a tremendous amount of time learning more about coal plants than I ever cared to learn about in my life,” Suskie said. “[The SWEPCO case] illustrates the huge policy challenge we face as a nation and how we continue to use energy in the future.”

The positive aspect of the SWEPCO case, Suskie said, is that future commissions will know how to address approval of power plants. The Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court ruled that separating the approval of the plant from approving SWEPCO’s need for more power didn’t follow state law.

Last year, speculation arose that Suskie might run for public office but he chose to remain at the commission. He declined to address whether he has hopes to run for office in the future.

“I’m 39 years old and I hope I have 30 more years to serve the public in whatever capacity,” Suskie said.

Beebe said Suskie’s departure is a loss for the commission.

“His experiences with the [commission] will serve him well in helping develop the future of power transmission in our region and throughout the country,” Beebe said.

Chuck Nestrud, an attorney for the Hempstead County Hunting Club which opposes SWEPCO’s plant, said, “I respect the job he did and I wish him the best in his new position.”

David Matthews, an attorney who represented SWEPCO, said he was surprised Suskie resigned.

“He served the people of Arkansas well,” Matthews said. “I hope this is not the last we’ve seen of Paul [in public office].”

The attorney general’s office, which represents Arkansas in cases before the Public Service Commission, declined to comment about Suskie’s resignation.

“We wish him well,” said Dan Daugherty, spokesman for Entergy Arkansas.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/18/2010