President Trump on Monday announced his intent to nominate two new members to the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission, which would, if the candidates are confirmed, give the chronically shorthanded panel a full slate of members.
Trump plans to nominate Mark Christie, chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the state’s electric utility regulator, along with Allison Clements, a clean energy lawyer, to FERC, an independent commission that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity.
Trump chose Christie to occupy a Republican spot on the panel and picked Clements for a Democratic seat.
FERC, which is supposed to be nonpartisan, is supposed to have three majority-party and two minority-party commissioners.
The commission had been operating for months with a 3-1 Republican majority after the Senate confirmed Trump’s latest Republican nominee, James Danly, in March.
Democrats, led by Joe Manchin of the Energy Committee, accused Trump of breaking precedent by not pairing Danly with a Democratic nominee despite there being a second vacancy, as is custom.
Senate Democrats recommended at the time that Trump nominate Clements, president and founder of energy regulatory consulting firm Goodgrid and former director of the Sustainable FERC program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. It’s unclear what caused the delay.
“In a political climate that is often paralyzed by partisanship, a bipartisan FERC is more essential than ever,” Manchin said Monday. “I thank the president and the White House for nominating both a Democrat and Republican today because it is an important step towards restoring a fully seated Commission.”
Another Republican position became available when Bernard McNamee announced he would not seek another term earlier this year. His term expired at the end of June, but McNamee has stayed pending Trump nominating a replacement.
