James C. Dimitri, a partner with McGuireWoods, LLP in Richmond, will begin his six-year term after he takes the oath of office, SCC spokesman Ken Schrad said.

Dimitri, who referred media questions to the governor's office, will decide on his swearing in date, which probably will occur after the lawyer wraps up his private practice responsibilities, Schrad said.

The Virginia General Assembly will decide whether to confirm his appointment during its 2009 legislative session, which will begin in January.

He fills a vacancy on the three-judge commission board.

One of Virginia's most powerful agencies, the SCC regulates utilities, the insurance industry, state-chartered financial groups, securities, retail franchising and railroads.

Dimitri represents Dominion in its efforts to win SCC approval for a proposed 500,000-volt transmission line through the Piedmont.

In July, SCC Hearing Examiner Alexander Skirpan Jr. recommended the corporation board approve the project.

Because Dimitri represents Dominion in this application, "more than likely" he won't help render a judgment on it, Schrad said. "But that's his call. He's governed by the Judicial Cannon of Ethics that all judges follow."

But a retired SCC judge temporarily returned to the board to help decide the controversial application, Schrad said.

The Warrenton-based Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) has spent more than $3 million trying to kill the proposed Dominion line.

Because of Dimitri's work for Dominion, PEC Spokesman Bob Lazaro called the SCC appointment an "affront to" energy consumers. "It's the ultimate game of inside politics."

Kaine defended his choice during an interview last Saturday at Lord Fairfax Community College, where he headed a campaign rally for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

Before joining McGuireWoods, Dimitri represented poor people and manufactures on rate issues, the governor said.

When Dimitri served in the state attorney general's office, he represented "the public interest in rate cases," Kaine said.

Dimitri also served as a staff lawyer, then lead counsel for the SCC, representing the commission, Kaine added.

Dimitri's experience makes him "the only person in the state who's done it from all sides," Kaine said. "And there is, frankly, in seven and a half million Virginians, nobody who just touches him in terms of his qualifications to do the [SCC] job."

The propose Piedmont line would link a substation near Winchester to one near Arcola in Loudoun County.

Using existing and new right-of-way, it also would cut through Frederick, Warren, Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper and Prince William counties.

Dominion argues it needs the line by summer 2011 to avoid potential rolling blackouts in Northern Virginia,.

PEC and other opponents say the line is unnecessary and that Northern Virginia's electricity needs can be satisfied without it.

E-mail the reporter: ddelrosso@timespapers.com