The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission swore in Democratic nominee Richard Glick on Nov. 29, bringing the number of sitting commissioners at the agency up to four.
Glick, who was previously general counsel for Democrats on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will serve the rest of a term at FERC that ends in June 2022.
The Trump administration, however, has yet to swear in Republican FERC nominee Kevin McIntyre, whom the Senate voted to confirm in early November along with Glick. McIntyre will take over as FERC chairman from Neil Chatterjee, another Trump appointee who has temporarily led the agency since Aug. 10.
Once McIntyre is in place, FERC will have a full complement of five commissioners for the first time since October 2015.
The staffing-up will help the agency juggle a busy slate of significant power and gas policy issues. FERC is working on its response to a September request from Energy Secretary Rick Perry to craft a rule ensuring coal, nuclear and other power plants with at least 90 days of on-site fuel supply can fully recovery their costs in regions with competitive energy and capacity markets. Chatterjee is also pushing for interim action to support economically struggling coal and nuclear plants while FERC crafts its response to the DOE request.
The power industry also hopes that FERC will update the transmission planning process, streamline the siting and permitting process for energy infrastructure, and develop a more predictable return on equity for transmission projects.
