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The U.S. Senate approved the appointment of an Arizona utility regulator and two other new members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, giving the agency its first full five-member panel since August 2001.

The appointments of Arizona Corporation Commissioner Marc Spitzer, Philip Moeller and Jon Wellinghoff to the commission, which oversees the U.S. wholesale power market and sets rates for interstate oil and natural-gas pipelines, were approved without objection Friday.

Spitzer, 48, an attorney specializing in tax law, will serve a term expiring June 30, 2011. Moeller will serve until mid-2010; Wellinghoff until mid-2008.

"I am pleased to welcome Phil, Jon and Marc to the commission," Chairman Joseph Kelliher said in a statement. "This is an exciting and demanding time as we address significant new responsibilities given the commission under the Energy Policy Act of 2005."

The law, signed by President Bush last August, gave the commission authority to prevent market manipulation and enforce reliability standards, backed by fines as high as $1 million a day for violations. The legislation also clarified the commission's authority for licensing liquefied-natural-gas terminals and encouraged building of new power lines in the U.S.

For fiscal year beginning in October, the commission asked Congress for a budget of $230.8 million and a staff of 1,320.

The new commissioners will join Kelliher, a Republican, and former New Mexican regulator Suedeen Kelly, a Democrat. Commissioner Nora Brownell, a Republican, will leave the agency to make way for Spitzer after completing a five-year term.

Spitzer, a Phoenix Republican, was elected to the Corporation Commission in 2000 and served as chairman from 2003 to 2005. He served in the state Senate from 1993 to 2000, including a stint as majority leader.

Born in Pittsburgh, Spitzer grew up in Philadelphia. After graduating from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., he attended the University of Michigan School of Law. Spitzer was nominated to the FERC on June 9.

Moeller, 44, a Republican former Senate staffer and lobbyist for Madison, Wis.-based Alliant Energy Corp., was nominated by Bush on March 7.

Wellinghoff, 57, a registered Independent, was recommended to the White House by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Wellinghoff, a former consumer advocate in Nevada, also was nominated March 7.

Brownell said her advice to the new commissioners is "always to talk to as many smart people as you can. Get out and talk to people who run the businesses, who invest in the businesses."

"We note with encouragement that these individuals achieved such broad bipartisan support," said Chris Conway, chairman of the Natural Gas Supply Association and president for gas and power at Houston-based ConocoPhillips, the third-biggest U.S. oil company.

"Since FERC has been operating with a bare quorum, this will not only take some of the pressure off of the sitting commission, but also allow it to continue its collaborative and constructive approach to sound energy rules benefiting all U.S. consumers," Conway said in a statement.

The agency, which has existed since 1977, was thrust into the spotlight by soaring prices in Western power markets during 2000 and 2001. The previous chairman, Pat Wood, also upset some members of Congress by pushing for utilities to surrender operational control over their power lines to assure fair access to the grid.

Kelliher, first nominated to the commission in October 2001, had to wait more than two years before being confirmed by the Senate because of opposition to commission policies.

"The fact there is little controversy on the Hill is important," said James Lucier, political analyst for Prudential Equity Group LLC. "That's a signal to investors that now is the time to start looking for more opportunities because now you've got some certainty in the system."