Special Report: Trump Announces FERC Nominees - Now what?

President Trump announced his intent to officially nominate Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson to the Senate for confirmation . Based on historical data, it is possible these nominees could be confirmed by the start of the Senate recess scheduled for July 31. But, if recent history is a strong indicator, they may not be confirmed until the return of the Senate from recess in September. When the new Commissioners arrive at FERC, they will have approximately $4 billion dollars of pipeline projects pending a certificate decision and seven projects awaiting a ruling on a petition for rehearing. 

First, some background on the two nominees:

Neil Chatterjee currently serves as the Energy Policy Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and has spent most of his career as a staffer for various politicians or political entities. While he does not appear to have any experience running an agency or serving on an independent commission such as FERC, based on a review of recent FERC appointees, this does not seem to be a disqualifying factor, especially if a nominee has experience as a staffer with energy-related expertise. In fact, Mr. Chatterjee's background is somewhat similar to those of Norman Bay, who recently stepped down as Chairman, and former Commissioner Moeller.


Robert Powelson was recently elected as the President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). He comes to this position at NARUC following his service as a commissioner for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. As with Mr. Chatterjee, Mr. Powelson appears to have no experience working for an industry participant, but does come with experience serving on a state public service commission . This is the most common career path for recent appointees to the Commission, including Commissioners Honorable, Norris, and Clark, as well as Chairman Wellinghoff. However, unlike these commissioners, Mr. Powelson will probably not bring significant experience with siting gas pipelines because the Pennsylvania PUC does not regulate non-utility intrastate pipelines.

Timeline for Restoration of a Quorum

Senator Murkowski, chair of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resource, has pledged to "make it a top priority to work with President Trump and my colleagues to move nominees rapidly." However, history indicates that she may face an uphill struggle to confirm President Trump's nominees by the time the Senate leaves for its summer recess on July 31. For FERC nominees since 2000, it has taken an average of 125 days to move from nomination to confirmation, with the shortest time period being 25 days and the longest being 302 days.  The Senate has two short recesses planned between now and July 31, at which time it intends to leave town until September 4. That gives Senator Murkowski only 83 days between now and the summer recess to confirm the nominees.  


Therefore, based on recent history, Senator Murkowski will need to keep her promise to move these nominations through expeditiously if there is any hope to having the quorum restored by July 31. The most optimistic timeline would probably be the 25 days for the fastest confirmation since 2000. With a recess planned at the end of this month, such a path would result in confirmation in early June. The most pessimistic view would be that Senator Murkowski would not be able to move the nominees before the July recess, which would mean there would be no FERC quorum until September. Since the President has named two nominees, even if Commissioner Honorable were to step down when her term ends at the end of June, the confirmation of these two nominees would re-establish a quorum.

The Commission's Full Plate

Whenever the quorum is restored, the commissioners will have a full plate of actions waiting for them, including a number of projects that have completed environmental review and await certificate orders, such as Nexus, the SM-80 Project, Texas Eastern Appalachian Lease Project, PennEast Project, Bayway Lateral Project, Central Virginia Connector Project, Gulf Coast Expansion Project, WB Xpress Project, Cedar Station Upgrade Project, St. Charles Expansion Project, Wisconsin South Expansion Project, Eastern System Upgrade Project. The Commission will also need to rule on a number of pipeline project related rehearing requests, including Atlantic Sunrise, the Orion Project, Atlantic Bridge, Northern Supply Access 2016, and Access South, Adair Southwest, and Lebanon Extension Projects and will need to act on the remand by the DC Circuit with regard to its MLP tax allowance policy.

FERC Commissioner Confirmation