Bacon’s Rebellion

does not endorse candidates for any government position, but we do take pride when regular contributors (or former contributors) seek to elevate themselves from the easy work of punditry to the hard job of actual governance. Thus, we are delighted to take note that former Bacon’s Rebellion columnist and blogger Barnie Day is under consideration for appointment to the State Corporation Commission.

If picked, Day would succeed Judge Theodore V. Morrison, who is retiring at the end of this year. State Sen. William C. Wampler, Jr., R-Bristol, had been widely deemed a favored candidate for the seat but has withdrawn from consideration.

The three SCC commissioners are key players behind the scenes in the debate over Virginia energy policy because, among their other duties, they oversee rate making and other regulatory matters for Virginia electric-power and natural-gas utilities. Day provides this capsule summary of the philosophy he would bring to the job:

Generally, in the abstract, I believe that an unfettered marketplace is the best arbiter of private transactions between willing individuals. Over the past hundred years or so we, as a society, have collectively decided that our interests are best served by giving some businesses and institutions special status in the marketplace, and, in return, we have empowered the SCC to watch on our behalf these businesses and institutions, largely through the restraint of regulations.

I do not have a law degree and do not look at things through a lawyer’s set of filters, but rather a consumer’s perspective, tempered with appreciation for the vital role stock holders and employees play in our overall well-being. The General Assembly membership may deem that an all-lawyer commission remains the best composition of this agency. I have no qualm if they do. It is a prerogative entrusted to them by our constitution.