On September 19, 2017, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (“ENR Committee”) unanimously advanced FERC nominees Kevin McIntyre and Richard Glick to a full vote on the Senate floor. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. McIntyre and Mr. Glick will join current FERC Commissioners Cheryl A. LaFleur, Robert F. Powelson, and Chairman Neil Chatterjee to fill all five seats at the Commission. Upon confirmation, Mr. McIntyre will become the new Chairman of FERC.
During their confirmation hearing, held on September 7, 2017, McIntyre and Glick both expressed in their opening statements that they would uphold FERC’s responsibility to regulate the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil, without favoring any energy source over another (see September 12, 2017 edition of the WER). Both nominees also voiced support for respecting states’ traditional control over their resource mix during the confirmation hearing.
In addition to McIntyre and Glick, the ENR Committee also approved other energy-related nominees on Tuesday. Ryan Nelson and Joseph Balash, nominated to be Solicitor of the Department of the Interior and Assistant Secretary at Interior respectively, received unanimous approval, while David Jonas, tapped to be General Counsel of the Department of Energy, was approved by a vote of 14-9.
Going forward, all the nominees will go before the full Senate for a final confirmation vote. A copy of the ENR Committee’s press release regarding the nominees’ advancement to the full Senate is available here.