Fox hearing delayed until after BPU case

The Senate Judiciary Committee won't hold a confirmation hearing on Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox until after a whistle-blower case against the BPU is finished, the committee's chairman said Friday.

"Well, we wouldn't call it before the trial is over, some sort of whistle-blower case," Judiciary Chairman Sen. John Adler, D-Camden, said. "I don't want to predict what might happen. We have to go slow on nominations of this importance."

Fox, the BPU, and two other top officials are named in the suit brought by BPU fiscal chief Joe Potena, who claims retaliation for alerting state officials to an $80- to $100-million ratepayer-funded Clean Energy account set up outside state Treasury purview.

Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, who has called on Gov. Jon S. Corzine to withdraw Fox's nomination, said he's backing off that request to give Fox a chance to prove her claim that she was following legal guidance in setting up the account.

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