Blackout Brings Abraham out of the Shadows

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - In the hours after the Aug. 14 blackout, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham was working the phones from a London hotel room while back in the United States his predecessor was stealing the headlines.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, an energy secretary during the Clinton administration, was telling reporters the blackout could be blamed on the country's "Third World electricity grid."

Richardson got plenty of exposure on U.S. news programs over several days, while Abraham huddled with governors in Albany, N.Y.

Abraham's behind-the-scenes approach is typical for the 51-year-old former Michigan senator, who ran ads calling himself "a workhorse, not a showhorse" in his unsuccessful 2000 re-election campaign.

But as he faces what might be the defining moment of his tenure as energy secretary, some say Abraham must step out of the shadows and prove he's serious about preventing another blackout.

"This country is watching you - and us - and they expect us to act," Rep. Jim Davis, D-Fla., told Abraham at a hearing on the blackout Wednesday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

As a start, Abraham is heading up a U.S.-Canadian task force to uncover the blackout's cause. He'll be working with his Canadian counterpart, Herb Dhaliwal, as well as members of Congress, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electricity Reliability Commission, a private group set up to establish grid standards.

Abraham refused to speculate about the cause of the blackout Wednesday, saying the task force is still collecting information. He is also investigating related issues, such as why gasoline prices spiked after the blackout.

Scott Segal, an attorney who represents electric utilities and refineries, said he was impressed by Abraham's decision after the blackout to open a power line under Long Island Sound. The 24-mile cable had been permitted to operate only with the consent of the energy secretary during emergencies because of environmental concerns.

"Events like the recent blackout have shown a Spencer Abraham that really rises to the occasion and takes significant political heat," Segal said.

Abraham made his name as a hardworking policy wonk during his one term in the Senate when he ignored the social circuit and went home each night with a stack of homework. It may have cost him the job; in 2000, Abraham was defeated by Debbie Stabenow, a bubbly Democrat who cast Abraham as inaccessible.

Many in the energy industry had their doubts about Abraham. For one thing, Abraham twice sponsored legislation to abolish the Energy Department, saying it was an unwieldy mess with authority over too many issues. He has since disavowed that legislation.

Others believed Abraham, with his Detroit roots, would have been a better choice to lead the Transportation Department. But Abraham, a Harvard-educated lawyer, won over many doubters.

"He's bright and he's articulate ... and he very quickly understood what we were talking about," said Bob Slaughter, president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association.

Scott Sklar, who heads a marketing firm that works with renewable energy interests, said Abraham was at first overshadowed by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney - not Abraham - chaired the National Energy Policy Development Group, which produced a report calling for more oil and gas drilling in May 2001.

But after Sept. 11, 2001, Bush and Cheney's focus turned to terrorism, and Abraham found his footing, Sklar said.

Abraham says he did work closely with Bush and Cheney, because "I happen to run a department where they have a great deal of expertise and knowledge." But he said Bush has given him plenty of flexibility, particularly after he successfully led the 2002 effort to open up Nevada's Yucca Mountain to nuclear waste.

Still, Sklar said, Abraham is a team player who doesn't stray far from the White House and interacts less with Congress than the gregarious Richardson did.

Environmentalists grumble Abraham is so entrenched that he hasn't included them in policy discussions.

"His tenure in terms of renewables is at best a mixed bag," said Ken Bossong of the Renewable Energy Policy Project, who said he requested meetings with Abraham about natural gas for six weeks but got no response. "We've had weak budget requests from the administration and limited political capital being expended."

Abraham points out the administration's support for research into hydrogen vehicles and clean energy technology.

Abraham says his efforts are often overshadowed because the issues he deals with are complicated. He hopes the blackout will focus more attention on his department, which spends only about 13 percent of its $23 billion budget on electricity issues. The vast majority goes to nuclear defense, scientific laboratories, oil and natural gas research and environmental cleanup.

In the end, Abraham hopes to be remembered not for the blackout, but for his nuclear nonproliferation negotiations with Russia or his acceleration of cleanup projects at Energy Department sites. Abraham said those sites will be cleaner 50 years sooner than they would have under an old department plan.

On the Net:

Department of Energy, http://www.doe.gov