Thursday, December 23, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NEVADA UTILITIES: State consumer advocate replaced

PUC member Escobar Chanos to take over for Hay at end of year

Adriana Escobar Chanos Tim Hay

The man who's spent most of the past five years helping Nevada consumers take on some of the nation's largest utility companies received an unexpected lump of holiday coal just three days before Christmas.

State Consumer Advocate Tim Hay learned Wednesday morning he will not begin 2005 in the approximately $100,000-per-year position he's held since April 2000. Instead, Attorney General Brian Sandoval awarded the job to Adriana Escobar Chanos, a Southern Nevada attorney who has served on the state Public Utilities Commission since February 2001. She's expected to begin her four-year term Jan. 3.

Sandoval said Escobar Chanos, 46, brings plenty to the role, including her experience as a prosecutor and the ability to speak directly to Nevada's Spanish-speaking consumers.

Still, Hay questioned Wednesday if his ouster was motivated by his several public disagreements with Sandoval.

"We've frankly not enjoyed a close relationship since his election," Hay said of Sandoval, who was elected attorney general in November 2002. "Part of that may have been due to his prior representation of the utility shareholders, which obviously puts him, philosophically, on the opposite end of the spectrum from me."

Sandoval downplayed any differences he may have had with Hay.

"I appreciate Tim's service to the state," Sandoval said Wednesday afternoon. "I don't have any recollection of us ever disagreeing on any issues that affected consumers. In fact, I supported every recommendation he made to me in positions that he took on behalf of the office of consumer advocate."

The men weren't always united on other fronts, however, including the length of Hay's current term.

Hay said former Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa appointed him to a term that runs through June 15. But Sandoval and state Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Washoe County, recently obtained a legal opinion from the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau that said Hay's term instead expires at the end of 2004.

At Sandoval's request, Hay a few weeks ago submitted a résumé in an effort to maintain his job, but the attorney general felt Escobar Chanos was a better fit.

Hay learned of his ouster when he was called by a newspaper reporter early Wednesday. Around the time a statement announcing Escobar Chanos' appointment was distributed by the attorney general's office, Hay said he received a voice mail message from Sandoval.

"I apologize for that," Sandoval said. "It was my intent to speak with him directly ... but (Hay) wasn't available to take the call."

Sandoval subsequently said his decision to elevate Escobar Chanos was made "within the last few days." Escobar Chanos said separately she learned of her appointment "very recently" but prior to Wednesday.

Hay said he left a congratulatory voice-mail message, but did not speak with his successor.

Escobar Chanos said she's still employed as a PUC commissioner, which pays approximately $95,199 per year. Until she resigns, she said she's reluctant to discuss her specific goals as consumer advocate. Speaking generally, she said she's looking forward to working on behalf of Nevada's citizens.

Escobar Chanos also received congratulations Wednesday from Walt Higgins, chairman and chief executive officer of utility company Sierra Pacific Resources, which has often been a focus of the consumer advocate's office.

While wishing Hay "well in his future endeavors," a spokeswoman for Higgins, who is also head of Nevada Power, said the new consumer advocate is "a great advocate of the consumer, and we expect she will continue that tradition in her new position."

Disputes between Sandoval and Hay date back several years. One of Sandoval's first moves as attorney general was to request an audit of Hay's office, a step Hay said went against a historic position that kept the consumer advocate largely autonomous.

"That (tradition) is why I have the appointing authority for all of my staff, and under the statutes, had the ability to lease office space and things like that," Hay said. "All of which were issues the A.G. (Sandoval) seemed to disagree with, but I don't consider it to be anything personal."

More problems arose this summer concerning the location of the advocate's office. Hay has worked primarily from Carson City, but Escobar Chanos' activities will be based in Southern Nevada, where she owns a home in Henderson.

"Many of the consumer fraud and criminal investigations and prosecutions occur down there," Sandoval said. "Two of the main deputies that try and handle the utility cases are in Las Vegas, so I felt it would be a very positive development for their direct supervisor to be working side-by-side with them."

Hay in June told the Review-Journal he was reluctant to relocate his current office, which is adjacent to the PUC's offices in the Capitol, to the attorney general's main campus about one mile away.

Sandoval said Wednesday those differences did not weigh in his decision to pick Escobar Chanos, however.

"If I had (received) a strong applicant from Northern Nevada, then it probably would have stayed (in Carson City)," Sandoval said. "But it worked out well that she resides in Southern Nevada."

Hay said he's proud of his accomplishments in Carson City, including a nearly $50 million antitrust case against El Paso Natural Gas.

"There should be some credits appearing on Southwest Gas customers' bills in the January billing cycle," he said. "We've substantially benefited Nevada consumers, so I'm proud of that."

Hay said he plans to take what amounts to his second vacation since becoming consumer advocate in April 2000. After that, he may return to his past duties as a private consultant on consumer and environmental issues.

Jon Wellinghoff, the Nevada's first consumer advocate and now an energy lawyer, also complimented Hay and Escobar Chanos.

"I know that given her background, her experience and her handling of utility matters before the PUC that she will make an excellent consumer advocate," Wellinghoff said, adding: "I think Tim has done a fine job as consumer advocate, and I will him well in his future endeavors."

Tom Sargent, a spokesman for the attorney general, said Escobar Chanos' PUC successor will likely be selected by Gov. Kenny Guinn early next year.