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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Sheffield Nelson.md
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@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ tags:
- PublicUtilities
alias:
- Edward Sheffield Nelson
summary: "Protégé of Witt Stephens who became president of Arkla at thirty-two, broke with the Stephens family in 1975, sold gas leases to Jerry Jones that the utility bought back at a large markup, and lost to Bill Clinton in 1990."
summary: "Witt Stephens's successor at Arkla, who broke with the Stephens family in 1975, sold gas leases to Jerry Jones that the utility bought back at a large markup, and lost to Bill Clinton in 1990."
born: 1941
location: "Little Rock, Arkansas"
created: 2026-09-21
@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ Sheffield Nelson was hired by [[Witt Stephens]] as his executive assistant at [[
"A major split occurred between Nelson and his predecessor when, in 1975, Nelson refused to renegotiate old gas contracts with [[Stephens Production|Stephens Production Company]]." He also lobbied against a bill that would have made Arkla carry gas from Stephens wells for a rival utility. "Witt Stephens never got over his resentment."[^1]
In the early 1980s Arkla sold a half interest in its leases in the [[Arkoma Basin]] to [[Jerry Jones]], whose Arkoma Production Company was to supply the utility's industrial customers. The property "was bought back by Arkla for far more than it was sold to Jones." [[Arkansas Business]] put the sale to Jones at 15 million dollars and the repurchase in 1986 at 175 million, under a contract that obliged Arkla to take three quarters of Arkoma's gas. It reported that the old contracts on the Stephens family's own Cecil and Aetna fields, at 16 and 55 cents per thousand cubic feet, were broken on April 28, 1983, and that Arkoma and Stephens then shared in gas sold to Arkla at three dollars. Nelson retired on December 31, 1984, and named [[Mack McLarty]] as his successor.[^1][^2]
In 1982 Arkla sold [[Jerry Jones]], whose Arkoma Production Company had been formed the April before, half of its interest in 28,500 acres of the Cecil and Aetna gas fields in the [[Arkoma Basin]] for 15 million dollars, with an undertaking to buy three quarters of all the gas he could find. The property "was bought back by Arkla for far more than it was sold to Jones." The family of Witt Stephens held acreage in the same fields under long contracts that paid 16 and 55 cents per thousand cubic feet. "After negotiating with Jones, the old contracts were broken on April 28, 1983, and Arkoma and Stephens began sharing in gas now being sold to Arkla under new Jones-negotiated agreements," at three dollars. "Arkla ratepayers would pay the difference." The [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] made an informal inquiry in 1983 and took no action, and the state's [[Arkansas Public Service Commission|Public Service Commission]] found no clear wrongdoing that year. It opened a second investigation in the fall of 1989 on learning that Arkla had paid Arkoma 174.8 million dollars to be released from the contract. Nelson retired on December 31, 1984, and named [[Mack McLarty]] as his successor.[^1][^2]
Nelson joined the Republican Party in 1989 and ran for governor of [[Arkansas]] in 1990. He won the primary with 54 percent against Representative [[Tommy Robinson]], whom the Stephens family supported. "Arkoma continued to dominate the fall campaign, and [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] won his fifth term with fifty-seven percent of the vote." McLarty became Clinton's first [[White House Chief of Staff|White House chief of staff]].[^1]