White House nominates three individuals as FERC commissioners

The White House Feb. 29 nominated three individuals to serve on the US Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC), reducing the chance that the five-member commission could lose its quorum when Commissioner Allison Clements’ term expires in June.

Clements in February said she would not seek another term at FERC (OGJ Online, Feb. 12, 2024).

While she did not give an official departure date, some feared she could depart before a replacement was nominated and confirmed, leaving FERC without the numbers needed to review and determine whether to approve new natural gas pipelines and LNG plants.

Biden’s three nominees for commissioner are Judy Chang, David Rosner and Lindsay See. By statute, FERC is composed of five members, with no more than three from the same political party. See is the nominee recommended by US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the White House said.

Chang is an energy economics and policy expert with more than 20 years of experience working with energy companies, trade associations, and governments on regulatory and financial issues, particularly as they relate to clean energy investment decisions. She is the former Undersecretary of Energy and Climate Solutions for Massachusetts.

Rosner has 15 years of experience across energy technologies, market design, and energy policy issues, both in and outside of government. He is an energy industry analyst for FERC, but he is currently on detail to the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Democratic staff. During his time at FERC, Rosner led efforts related to the commission’s rulemaking on energy storage resources, electric transmission, offshore wind integration, fuel security, and natural gas-electric coordination. Rosner was previously a senior policy advisor at the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis and an associate director at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s energy project.

Lindsay See is the Solicitor General of West Virginia. See previously practiced appellate and administrative law for several years with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C. 

If approved by the Senate, the nominees would join Chairman Willie Phillips, who after a year as acting chairman, was officially named FERC chairman in February and Mark Christie, who took office in January 2021 (OGJ Online, Feb. 9, 2024; Dec. 7, 2020).

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin welcomed the news. "A fully seated, bipartisan FERC provides more opportunity for advancing long-lasting, sensible energy infrastructure policy,” the West Virginia Democrat said. “I look forward to reviewing the qualifications of the three individuals nominated today to be FERC Commissioners and assessing their commitment to American energy security.” Manchin’s committee is responsible for vetting the nominees before the full Senate can vote.