The While House on Thursday (Nov. 5) abruptly demoted Neil Chatterjee as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, replacing him with Republican commissioner James Danly.
The surprise move appears to have been a response to the fact that Chatterjee departed from Republican energy orthodoxy in two recent cases, siding with Democratic FERC member Richard Glick, with Danly in opposition. In an October case, the commission issued a policy statement endorsing state efforts to enact carbon taxes. Danley dissented in part. In a September case, FERC ruled that aggregators of distributed energy resources can compete in competitive wholesale electricity markets. Danly dissented strongly, arguing that the commission’s action was “imprudent.”
Utility Dive quoted Travis Fisher, who was an advisor to former Trump Republican commissioner Bernard McNamee, “Just last month, Chatterjee took two significant steps to the political left — first to issue the final rule on distributed energy resources and then to host an all-day, Commissioner-led technical conference on carbon pricing.”
In both cases, Chatterjee agreed with Glick. In a tweet, Glick said, “Although we haven’t always agreed, I know that Chairman Chatterjee arrived at his views honestly and independently. And I appreciate his willingness to ignore party affiliation and work with me on several key initiatives that will prove beneficial to this nation. I look forward to continuing work with Chairman Chatterjee in the coming months.”
Danly has taken a position against FERC exercising expansive powers over the energy companies it regulates, arguing instead for the agency to adhere to a limited view and exercise of its authority.
The Trump administration did not try to oust Chatterjee. He holds a five-year term under the law that governs FERC. But the move clearly reflects administration disagreement with his leadership and his willingness to cooperate with Glick. Chatterjee, who was the energy aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a tweet that “I learned a long time ago on Capitol Hill, nothing gets done in DC without compromise. We have more work to do. And I’m ready to face it head on through my term in 2021.”
The administration appointed Chatterjee to FERC in 2017. He was acting chairman from August to December 2017, during the illness and death from brain cancer of Kevin McIntyre. He became chairman in October 2018. Danly became a FERC commissioner this March, after serving as general counsel since joining the commission staff in 2017. The White House named him to replace McNamee, who earlier had been a policy advisor to the Trump Department of Energy.
Under law, FERC consists of five members, appointed to staggered five-year terms. It is designed to consist of three members of the party in control of the White House and two of the minority, with the chairman named by the president. Two seats, one for each political party, are now vacant.
Should the Democrats win the White House, Joe Biden would be able to name the chairman, likely to be Glick. Two current nominees, Republican Mark Christie and Democrat Allison Clements, are pending in the Senate. The White House could withdraw the Christie nomination and replace it with a Democrat, giving the commission its legally-mandated partisan balance.
But McConnell could block action on the nominations, preserving the Republican control of the important energy commission, although Danly and McConnell protégé Chatterjee could still find themselves at odds.
— Kennedy Maize