In a surprise move, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Robert Powelson announced on Thursday that he would leave his FERC seat in mid-August to take a job as CEO of the National Association of Water Companies. A long-time state and federal regulator, Powelson has had a major role in regulation of water.
In a terse resignation announcement, Powelson said, “It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve our great nation as a FERC commissioner.” Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, the senior member of the commission, said in a tweet, “You will be missed.”
Powelson, a Republican appointee by Donald Trump, nominated to FERC in May 2017, was a former member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, including serving as the chairman. He was active in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, including serving as NARUC president. He was also a chairman of the NARUC Committee on Water for several years.
Powelson was sworn in as a FERC commissioner last August 10. Platt’s reported that Powelson’s tenure at FERC “would be the shortest in the history of FERC.”
Powelson’s departure could vastly complicate some ongoing FERC initiatives and activities, including approvals for natural gas pipelines. The commission has been divided 3-2, with the Republicans – Chairman Kevin McIntyre and Powelson and Neil Chatterjee — supporting approving pipelines in the absence of rigorous environmental impact analyses that address the climate implications of the commission’s decisions. Democratic commissioners Cheryl LaFleur and Richard Glick have strongly opposed the commission’s studied reluctance to consider the greenhouse gas implications of pipeline certificates.
The departure of Powelson could also put the brakes on a McIntyre initiative to reform the commission’s pipeline certification process. The review was driven by environmental activists’ vociferous charges that FERC is in the pocket of gas companies. McIntyre launched the review of the FERC certification policy in response.
Powelson has also been a staunch opponent of the Trump administration’s plans to subsidize uneconomic coal and nuclear generating plant in competitive markets, particularly the PJM Interconnection. In recent Congressional testimony, The Washington Examiner reported Powelson said, “FERC does not pick winners and losers in the market. A hard and fast mandate on these markets could evaporate all the goodwill consumers have seen. To erode that would be a real step back in the bulk power system.”
With the commission now split with two Republicans and two Democrats, it’s unlikely that FERC will move forward with any controversial actions until a new commissioner is seated. The law stipulates that FERC consists of three members of the party of the president, and two in the minority. Historically, FERC has not often been riven by the partisan splits that have long characterized Washington policy debates.
Whether the Trump administration can come up with a nominee to replace Powelson before the 2018 midterm congressional elections is an open question. FERC had been reduced to just one commissioner – LaFleur – and unable to conduct more than routine business when Trump came into office. It took months before the White House could make nominations to fill the commission vacancies. By most assessments, the Trump nominees – Powelson, McIntyre, Neil Chatterjee, and Glick – were surprisingly main stream. It isn’t clear who in the White House is making the FERC selections.
If the White House is able to come up with a choice to replace Powelson, that person will have to pass scrutiny in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. Chair Lisa Murkowsi (R-Alaska) is a thoughtful lawmaker and can’t be regarded as a rubber stamp for whomever the administration puts forward.
— Kennedy Maize