And certainly, there were some regulated utilities who were concerned, because they didn't feel they had a good working relationship with him." "Some electric utilities that Sam always opposed in rate case proceedings and would oppose their filings routinely. AEP being one of them," Snitchler said. "And there were other utilities that he never opposed and always seemed to work with them in an effort to get their filings approved, and FirstEnergy would be one of those entities." "It was known in utility circles that he had a very cozy relationship [with FirstEnergy] on both a professional and personal level," said Kelter, the attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center.