Jury Duty Means Dad for the Day

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Joseph Kelliher held the strongest possible shield against tough questions at a news conference this week: his curly-haired 21-month-old son. Young Damien mainly clung to his father's neck, occasionally reaching up to push Kelliher's cheeks together as he explained the agency's stand on nuclear power and its role in the siting of new liquefied natural gas terminals, reports our Marianne Lavelle.

Apparently, even one of the nation's top regulators has trouble finding backup child care; Kelliher had committed a year ago to speak at Deloitte & Touche USA's annual energy conference, months before learning his wife would be called to jury duty this week. Damien sat happily in the audience with Kelliher's staff during his speech to the more than 400 conference attendees. He wailed only briefly--perhaps with the rest of the electric industry--when the chairman turned to the subject of new reliability standards that go into effect this summer.

"I guess he didn't like my answer," Kelliher said, frowning.