Denise Bode

Denise Bode (born 1954, Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a nationally recognized energy policy expert and a former Corporate Commissioner of that state. In January 2005 she began her second and last six-year term in office, having won reelection by the most votes ever garnered by a Republican candidate for an Oklahoma state-wide office.

Appointed by Governor Frank Keating, Bode took office on August 20, 1997^[1] and was elected on November 3, 1998 with over 60% of the vote, a record for a Republican running statewide for the first time. She was reelected to her second full term in November, 2004.

Bode is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the American Wind Energy Association, www.awea.org, the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry.

Early life and education

Bode was born in Tulsa and raised in Bartlesville,^[2] where her father was a Phillips Petroleum executive.^[3] She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Oklahoma, where she chaired the University of Oklahoma Student Congress.^[4] She earned her Juris Doctor from George Mason University and a Master’s of Law in taxation from Georgetown University.^[5]

Career

Bode worked for nine years on the staff of then–U.S. Senator David Boren as his legal counsel, focusing on the areas of energy and taxation and staffing the Senate Finance Committee.^[6]

Before joining the Corporation Commission, Bode served for seven years as president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) in Washington, D.C.^[1] She preceded her service at IPAA as a founding partner of a Washington D.C. firm,^[2] where she represented businesses ranging from agriculture to life insurance.

Bode was appointed to President George W. Bush’s Energy Transition Advisory Team^[7] and has testified before Congress on numerous occasions, as well as lectured at the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society. She represented the United States in Oslo, Norway, at the International Union Conservative Women’s Conference. She was elected by state regulators from the eight states that make up the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) region to serve as President of SPP’s Regional State Committee. The committee is charged with directing electric transmission expansion in Oklahoma and the other states in the SPP region.

In 2002, Denise Bode ran for Attorney General against incumbent Drew Edmondson and was defeated by Edmondson (60%-40%).

Bode was a candidate for the Republican Nomination for the Oklahoma 5th Congressional District; however, she lost the Republican Party nomination in the July 25, 2006 primary.^[8]

On April 20, 2007, Bode announced her intention to resign as Corporation Commissioner and form the American Clean Skies Foundation to promote the use of natural gas.^[9] On May 14, 2007 Brad Henry appointed Jim Roth as her replacement.^[10] On January 1, 2009, Bode resigned from ACSF to become the new CEO of the American Wind Energy Association.

In 2011, the AWEA under Bode has a staff of 70, including a half-dozen full-time lobbyists, a lobbying budget of $2.5 million (down from $4m in 2009), a total yearly budget of $35 million, and a political action committee, WindPAC. The PAC made campaign contributions in the 2010 election cycle of around $320,000, around 70% going to Democratic candidates and 30% to Republicans, comparing with campaign donations of just under $30,000 in 2000 but also still dwarfed by those of the oil industry.^[3]

Corporation Commission

In her 10 years on the Commission, Commissioner Bode helped restructure the telecommunications, natural gas and electricity industry markets. She chaired the hearings which developed alternative regulation of telecommunications; the result was dramatic expansion of high-speed Internet access across the state, a reduction in fees for consumers of telecommunications and discounts to encourage competition.^[11] Commissioner Bode is a strong consumer advocate, having fought for the rights of consumers by requiring greater notice against slamming,^[12] the premature deregulation of electricity^[12] and the imprudent purchase of natural gas in the winter of 2001.

She also worked to streamline the commission process for those in the oil and gas industry to ensure the proper production of Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas resources.^[13]

Commissioner Bode also had a key role in the area of security, having been appointed to both national and state positions involving leadership in the planning for protection of critical infrastructure and essential services against terrorism.^[14]

Honors and other involvements

Bode’s honors include: 2010 CEO Update announced that Denise was selected by her peers as one of the top association CEOs in the country, 2009 “Woman of the Year” for the Women’s Council for Energy and the Environment (WCEE) and she was awarded a mention amongst Washingtonian’s “100 Most Powerful Women of Washington,” 2002 Byliner Award for Government-Association for Women in Communication,^[15] 2002 Distinguished Service Award-Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, 2001 State Official of the Year -Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies, Inc., 2001 Hearst Newspapers Energy Award for Public Service, 1999 Woman of the Year-Journal Record (Oklahoma City),^[16] named as one of Oklahoma's "Women of Influence" by Oklahoma Family Magazine.

She currently serves as Chairman of the Foundation of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), is a member of the Committee on Critical Infrastructure, Consumer Affairs and Telecommunications for NARUC, a member of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),^[17] and is Chair of the Subcommittee on Critical Infrastructure for the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. She is the Oklahoma state contact on Critical Infrastructure for the Office of Homeland Security and for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Assurance. She is on the board of the Maguire Energy Institute of the Southern Methodist University School of Business, and also serves on the board of the Mewborne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering at the University of Oklahoma.^[18]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} ”IPAA's Bode” 14:26.
2. ^ ^{a b} Miller 22.
3. ^ ^{a b} McNeil, Maggie, "Wind industry’s top lobbyist sheds oil roots", MarketWatch, May 18, 2011 8:30 a.m. EDT. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
4. ^ ”Almanac” 13.
5. ^ Price 1.
6. ^ Crow 48.
7. ^ ”Bode named” 13.
8. ^ McNutt 1.
9. ^ Womack E4.
10. ^ ”Roth Steps Forward” 1.
11. ^ ”For Bode” A18.
12. ^ ^{a b} Francis-Smith 1.
13. ^ ”Energetic Bode” 1.
14. ^ Ray E1.
15. ^ ”Okla. Corporate Commissioner” 1.
16. ^ Page 1.
17. ^ ” Okla. Corporation Commission Chairman” 1.
18. ^ ’’Almanac’’ 14.

Bibliography

• (2001). “Bode Named to President’s Energy Panel.” ‘’Tulsa World’’. January 4.
• Crow, Patrick (1994). “Boren’s Exit.” ‘’Oil & Gas Journal’’. May 2.
• (2007). "Denise Bode." denisebode.com. Retrieved September 12.
• (2005). “Executive Branch.” ‘’Oklahoma Almanac’’. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Department of Libraries.
• (2004). “For Bode.” ‘’Tulsa World’’. October 28.
• Francis-Smith, Janice (2007). “Denise Bode urges 'balanced regulation' to her successors in Okla.” ‘’Journal Record’’. June 4.
• Hrbener, Ron (1997). Interest Group Politics in America. New York: ME Sharpe.
• McNutt, Michael (2006). “Four former rivals line up to endorse Fallin in runoff.” ‘’Knight Ridder Tribune Business News’’. August 1.
• Miller, William (1992). “The Lady in the Oil Patch.” ‘’Industry Week’’. July 6.
• Page, David (2006). “Oklahoma City Journal Record Woman of the Year honorees to receive $5000 college scholarship.” ‘’Journal Record’’. August 11.
• (2003). “Okla. Corporate Commission Chairman Denise Bode to Serve on FCC Committee.” ‘’Journal Record’’. December 23.
• (2004). “Okla. Corporate Commissioner Denise Bode to Speak at OCU.” ‘’Journal Record’’. March 4.
• (2007). "Political Notebook." Tulsa World. August 19.
• Price, Marie (2002). “Meet Denise Bode.” ‘’Journal Record’’. October 24.
• (2007). “Roth steps forward.” ‘’Knight Ridder Tribune Business News’’. May 16.
• Russell, Ray (2004). “Utilities to get security rules.” ‘’Tulsa World’’. December 4.
• Womack, Jason (2007). “D.C.-bound Bode looks back on commission days.” ‘’Tulsa World’’. June 5.

External links

• News article on her decision to resign

Political offices
Preceded by	Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner (Class 2) August 20, 1997 - May 14, 2007	Succeeded by Jim Roth
Party political offices
Preceded by	Republican nominee for Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner (Class 2) 1998, 2004	Succeeded by Dana Murphy
Preceded by	Republican nominee for Attorney General of Oklahoma 2002	Succeeded by James Dunn

Persondata
Name	Bode, Denise
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1954
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death