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New Positions:

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) appointed Thomas A. Leach to a two-year term on its Consumers Advisory Council. Leach is the business manager and financial secretary of Local Union 126, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Cleco Corp. said board member J. Patrick Garrett is the first non-employee chairman of the board and that Mike Madison , state president of American Electric Power Louisiana/Arkansas, had joined the company as president and chief operating officer.

Avista Corp. appointed Jack W. Gustavel as a company director. Gustavel, president and CEO of Idaho Independent Bank, will stand for election in May. He is in line to replace Sally Jewell , who ended her term on the Avista board last May.

National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) President Stan Wise appointed California PUC President Michael Peevey as vice-chair of the DOE/NARUC Energy Market Access Partnership Board.

Puget Energy named Stephen E. Frank to its board of directors. Frank retired in 2002 as chairman, president, and CEO of Southern California Edison.

The Emissions Marketing Association board of directors appointed Gary Payne , an emissions trader for Dominion, to its board. Payne previously held positions with Aquila Merchant Services and Koch Energy Trading.

Kevin Evans replaced Bill Berry as senior vice president and chief financial and administrative officer at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Evans was most recently CFO for technology company PlaceWare Inc.

W. Lance Wright , a former Mobil Oil director, joined USEC Inc. as vice president of human resources and administration.

Paul Hudson is the newest appointee for the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Gov. Rick Perry announced the appointment in late August, for a term that expires Sept. 1, 2009. Hudson is the director of policy in the governor's office, and he has past experience in energy development issues.

Gregory H. Boyce joined Peabody Energy as its president and COO. He will also serve on the company's senior executive committee. Boyce previously was CEO for energy at Rio Tinto PLC.

Thomas L. Aller will serve as interim executive vice president of Alliant Energy's Energy Delivery business unit, responsible for Alliant's utility subsidiaries. Aller has been with Alliant since 1993. Also, Eliot G. Protsch , executive vice president of Energy Delivery at Alliant and president of Interstate Power and Light, is Alliant's interim CFO, following the resignation of Thomas M. Walker , who stepped down to pursue other business interests.

OMHEX, a European securities company specializing in energy markets, named Magnus Bocker CEO and president, and Jukka Ruuska deputy CEO. The company was formed through the merger of Finnish company HEX and Swedish company OM.

Progress Energy named Geoffrey S. Chatas senior vice president of finance. Chatas most recently worked for AEP in the roles of senior vice president of finance, and as treasurer. He has been with AEP since 1997. Wendy Hargus will assume the duties of treasurer at AEP, which plans to consolidate its finance and treasury departments.

Sentenced:

A U.S. district judge sentenced former Enron Corp. Treasurer Ben F. Glisan Jr. to five years in prison and