If the citizens of Utah allow Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and his henchman, Russell Skousen, to succeed in what amounts to a hostile takeover of the Committee of Consumer Services (CCS), the state's consumers could lose millions of dollars to future utility rate increases.

Huntsman and Skousen fired Roger Ball from his position as director of the CCS and gave Ball 30 minutes to leave the building. His replacement? A former US West lobbyist.

The Committee of Consumer Services is our last line of defense against the spiraling costs of utility bills. The CCS represents residential, small business and agricultural consumers at hearings on utility rate-hike requests and has saved consumers more than a billion dollars over the past 28 years.

We should question why a committee that has represented consumers so well has been under constant attack the past several years at the Legislature. Part of the answer lies with utility companies and their large industrial customers who hire expensive lobbyists to constantly shower gifts and donations on legislators to get what they want.

In the most recent legislative session, Gary Dodge, an attorney and lobbyist for US Magnesium, (formerly the No. 1 toxic air polluter in the nation), drafted another House Bill 320. This legislation, sponsored by Rep. James R. Gowans from Tooele, was eerily similar to HB320 passed in 2000 and sponsored by Rep. Dave Ure. That bill was rescinded in 2001 after public outcry.

Both bills attempted to eliminate the CCS completely. That would be disastrous for consumers and eventually lead to much higher utility bills.

The sponsor of this year's HB320 argued that industrial and commercial customers are not being treated fairly. Nothing could be further from the truth. Electric consumers represented by the CCS pay an average of 7.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. Compare that to the recent contract negotiated by Dodge for US Magnesium for interruptible electric service at 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Gowans said he will be working on the bill this summer to re-file next session. It never ends.

The utility companies and industrial customers do not need more political power; they already have far too many friends on Capitol Hill.

The CCS was formed to independently represent consumers (who would otherwise be without a voice) without political interference. The statute creating the committee states, "The Governor shall appoint, with the concurrence of the Committee, a person qualified in the field of public utilities . . ."

There is nothing in the CCS statute to indicate that the director serves at the pleasure of the governor. State statutes defining other department heads serving the executive branch clearly state that they serve at the pleasure of the governor.

If Gov. Huntsman can fire our advocate with 30 minutes notice at any time without conferring with the committee, any future director will serve the governor and whomever pulls his strings, not the residents of Utah who pay his or her salary and depend on that person to represent them.

The money to fund the committee is collected from a portion of your utility bills. The utility companies have plenty of your money to fight for higher rates with an ample amount left over to lavish on legislators and the governor who will do their bidding.

It is appalling to ask us to replace Roger Ball, who has saved us hundreds of millions of dollars, with someone whose claim to fame is not only that she was a former lobbyist for US West, but that she worked to pass one of the most anti-consumer bills in recent years. And we're required to pay for this "advocate."

To say her lobbying experience qualifies her in the field of public utilities is an insult to every citizen of this state. The governor and legislators must think we are incredibly stupid.

If citizens do not speak up now and convince committee members to challenge the governor's actions before the Utah Supreme Court to preserve the independence of the committee, Gov. Huntsman will win by default.

When former Gov. Mike Leavitt fired Dr. Joseph Ingles, a previous director, the committee requested an attorney to represent them at the Supreme Court to challenge the issue. When the attorney general's office refused to provide an attorney, the committee lost a great deal of independence. This should not happen again.

It is up to the members of the CCS to challenge the governor's unilateral removal power to preserve their independence and assure that the Committee of Consumer Services can vigorously defend us against the monopoly power of the large utility companies without political interference, as the law intended.

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Claire Geddes is the former director of Utah Legislative Watch, a consumer advocacy group.