By Tom Kleckner

AUSTIN, Texas — DeAnn Walker will chair her first open meeting of the Public Utility Commission of Texas on Thursday after her recent appointment, which couldn’t come at a busier time for the commission.

The Sept. 28 agenda includes an update on Hurricane Harvey restoration efforts, consolidated dockets related to a proposed swap of transmission assets between Oncor and Sharyland Utilities, and Lubbock Power & Light’s request to move its load from SPP to ERCOT.

The PUC is also in the midst of rulemaking projects to improve price formation in ERCOT’s energy-only market, reliability-must-run service and determining rate case procedures for transmission and distribution providers.

And then there’s Sempra Energy’s $9.45 billion bid to acquire Oncor, the state’s largest utility. A federal bankruptcy court has already approved Sempra Energy’s purchase of Oncor and its bankrupt parent, Energy Future Holdings, but the California company must still gain the PUC’s approval. (See Bankruptcy Court Advances Sempra Bid for Oncor.)

The commission has rejected two previous acquisition attempts by Hunt Consolidated and NextEra Energy.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week announced Walker’s appointment as PUC chair to replace Donna Nelson, who stepped down in May. Walker, who served as a senior policy adviser to Abbott on regulated industries, will fill out the remainder of Nelson’s term, which expires in September 2021. (See Texas PUC Chair Nelson Stepping Down.)

Commissioners Ken Anderson and Brandy Marty Marquez have kept the three-seat PUC running while waiting on a new chair. Anderson has served on the commission since September 2008 — a record tenure — though his term expired Aug. 31. Marquez’ six-year term expires in September 2019.

Walker returned to the PUC on Sept. 21, after previously working at the commission from 1988 to 1997 as an assistant general counsel and then as an administrative law judge. She spent 15 years at CenterPoint Energy as director of regulatory affairs and as an associate general counsel, before joining Abbott’s staff.

Walker is a member of the State Bar of Texas. She received her bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University and her law degree from the South Texas College of Law.