Chatterjee talks mistakes, lessons learned and energy transition with state regulators

Mistakes were made, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Neil Chatterjee told state utility regulators Nov. 11 during a discussion of recent actions at FERC and his tenure as chairman of the agency.

While speaking at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' annual meeting, Chatterjee stood by his positions on market reforms that have angered some states and had no regrets over his stance on diversity training at the agency that has been listed among the possible reasons for his Nov. 5 ouster from the chairman's role. Yet, he acknowledged areas where, in hindsight, he could have done better, particularly referencing the absence of any state regulators on panels convened for a recent technical conference on carbon pricing.

"It's tough to get everything right, and I humbly acknowledge that I make mistakes, I make mistakes all the time," he said regarding the technical conference. "I did feel at the end that state voices were well represented and that we did hear from a number of panelists who spoke to state positions, but we could have done better. And with further reflection and more time, I acknowledge there could have been greater inclusion of direct state voices."

Despite losing the chairman's gavel, Chatterjee has said he will remain at the commission through his term, which ends at the end of June.

With his remaining time at the commission, he said he would "learn from the mistakes that I made and move forward," adding that "states are going to be a critical part of the discussion going forward."

Diversity, inclusion

Chatterjee was further pressed on the lack of gender and racial diversity among panelists at the carbon pricing technical conference, and whether FERC had a responsibility to extend diversity and inclusion principles beyond its staff and to interactions with stakeholders.

Chatterjee responded in the affirmative, saying FERC has a "great opportunity to cast a wider net and to bring more people to the table."

He contended that he took a different approach to the FERC chairmanship than his predecessors, making the agency far more public and forward facing. While that made some longtime FERC watchers uncomfortable, he asserted, it ultimately made the commission more accessible and less intimidating at a time of energy transition when new and different players were beginning to engage with FERC.

"So folks who may not have previously stepped forward to engage with the commission because they were nervous about perhaps a lack of experience or expertise, now feel more comfortable," Chatterjee said. "And I hope that that will lead to a far wider net that includes diversity along gender lines, racial lines but also expertise and representation. If that's one of my lasting legacies at FERC, that I opened the door to greater and wider participation in FERC dockets and in FERC conferences, I'll be very proud."

'Successful leader'

More broadly speaking to the future of FERC and the agency's policy positions, Chatterjee said the increasing possibility of a divided government with the administration and Senate majority on opposite sides of the aisle, in his view, positioned the commission to "become the epicenter of energy and environmental policy."

He said he saw opportunities for FERC and the states to work together on climate change. He also acknowledged that FERC's actions have at times butted heads with state leaders.

New dynamics brought on by clean energy technologies becoming more cost competitive and the resulting changes to the generation mix and impact on traditional generators' ability to compete "have caused some of the most thorny and impactful issues to come before FERC in the past couple of years," Chatterjee said.

With difficult decision making, "you can't keep everybody happy," he said. "I know that some of the orders which I have supported, like our PJM [Interconnection minimum offer price rule] and New York [Independent System Operator] buyer side mitigation rules, have caused me to be criticized by many," he said. Those orders have been described by some as frustrating state clean energy policies.

He added that there were also concerns expressed about aspects of Order 2222, which opens wholesale power markets to aggregated distributed energy resources like small-scale solar arrays and battery installations.

"I wish it were possible for everyone to support all the actions that we've taken during my time as chairman," he said. "And as I reflect upon it, I think being criticized from both sides demonstrates that I was a successful leader of an independent agency. To me, all of the actions that we took under my leadership share a common theme."

That theme, he said, was his "commitment to advancing market-based solutions for the American people as we navigate this energy transition."

"I've consistently fought for compromise and smart bipartisan action where it's possible, and I've consistently refused to stick my head in the sand in the face of tough issues," Chatterjee said. "That isn't going to change as I step back into the role of FERC commissioner. To the contrary, I think my ability to be a leading voice and driver of change will only strengthen as we head into 2021."