CUB Remembers Former PUC Chair Ray Baum
Posted on March 1, 2018 by Samuel Pastrick
Tags, General Interest
The staff at CUB was sad to hear that former PUC chair Ray Baum passed away in February, after a long battle with cancer.
Baum, who served on the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) from 2003-2010 and as chair in 2010, was also an attorney and previously a legislator in Oregon. In 2011 he went to Washington DC and served as the Senior Policy Adviser to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Sub-Committee on Communications and Technology, and Senior Policy Adviser on Technology and Energy to Representative Greg Walden. In January of 2017 after a brief stint as the Vice-President of Government Affairs for the National Broadcasting Association, Baum became the staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.
“Though we didn’t always see eye to eye on policy issues when Ray was a legislator,” said Executive Director Bob Jenks, “Ray was always a fair and reasonable Commissioner; he listened to both sides and really looked out for the consumers.”
Baum served on the PUC at a time when the Commission was examining important issues such as Texas Pacific Group’s attempt to buy PGE. Courageously and under tremendous pressure, Baum along with fellow Commissioners John Savage and Lee Beyer, then Chair, unanimously agreed to deny the sale.
“CUB strongly opposed this sale because of its negative impact on consumers,” Jenks said. “I’ve always appreciated and admired that particular group of Commissioners; because it took real mettle to stand up against some pretty big players to do what was right for customers.”
CUB sends our sincere condolences to Ray’s family and friends; we are sure his kindness, genuine devotion to public service, and commitment to fairness will be missed.
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09/05/22 | 0 Comments | CUB Remembers Former PUC Chair Ray Baum