New PSC chairman takes job with a lot on the line.(News)(Michigan Public Service Commission)

Crain's Detroit Business, July, 2003 by Lane, Amy

Pick an issue - higher rates for Detroit Edison Co., cost increases for rivals of SBC Communications Inc. and rising natural-gas prices - and it's going to fall into J. Peter Lark's lap. Lark, the newly named chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission, is ready. "I've always fought for a fair balance between customers and the regulated community, and that's what I plan to continue to do,'' he said.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm last week appointed Lark, a state assistant attorney general who has long been involved in utility issues. Among consumer advocates and business, he has a reputation for being evenhanded. "I think he's going to be fair,'' said Robert Strong, general counsel for an association of large energy customers, the Association of...