THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017
President Donald J. Trump announced his intended third nomination for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late last week.
Richard Glick, who is trained as a lawyer and has severed as a senior U.S. government affairs executive for a number of companies, will be the first Democrat President Trump has appointed to FERC.
Commission Without Quorum
FERC is down from two members to one as of July 1 due to the resignation of Colette Honorable. For months, FERC has been without quorum since Feb., a first in 40 years. In order to make decisions and approve necessary energy infrastructure (such as pipelines), FERC needs a three-member quorum.
FERC also regulates the interstate electric grid.
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| Michael Vadon, CC 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons |
| President Trump announced his intended third nomination for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late last month. |
In April, Honorable, who was appointed to the commmission in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama, announced the end of her term, which was in June.
“Although I understand and respect Commissioner Honorable’s decision to step down this week, her departure again underscores the urgent need to re-establish a quorum at FERC,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Other Nominations
On March 9, Trump nominated Pennsylvania utility regulator Robert Powelson, Senate energy adviser Neil Chatterjee and Jones Day attorney Kevin McIntyre, who was expected to be named chair of the commission. Those nominees have yet to be confirmed by the Senate, though they were approved by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
If approved by the Senate, Glick’s term would last five years and end in 2022.
Tagged categories: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); Infrastructure; Oil and Gas; Pipelines; President Trump; Program/Project Management
