The nation’s top electricity regulator switched captains on Wednesday amid a number of key challenges that include how to deal with the Obama administration’s climate rules.
Norman Bay took the reins of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as part of a deal worked out between the White House and Senate Republicans last year.
The deal was negotiated to clear Bay as the president’s pick to lead the commission after disagreements over his lack of experience threatened to block the confirmation process in the Senate.
Under the agreement, the acting chairwoman at that time, Cheryl LaFleur, would continue to serve as chairman, while Bay served as one of the four commissioners on the panel. After several months, Lafleur would step down and Bay would take over.
A sticking point for the GOP over approving Bay was the issue of power reliability. Lawmakers saw a number of challenges facing the nation’s power grid, due partly to proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules for curbing greenhouse gases from existing power plants, known as the Clean Power Plan.
After the deal became effective, LaFleur held a series of conferences on the effects of the emission rules.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, LaFleur said she hoped for a smooth transition to the new chairman on Tax Day. She also said that the commission faces a limited number of weeks to pull together a reliability policy that she says would be necessary to alleviate concerns about electricity disruptions under the EPA plan.
LaFleur said she could not speak on the behalf of Bay or the other commissioners, but she believes a draft proposal for a reliability “safety valve” should be developed in April or May and submitted to EPA before it finishes its emission rules this summer.
“This is a time of great change in the energy space, and it is more important than ever that the commission use its authority with respect to infrastructure, markets and reliability to further the public interest,” Bay said.
Bay also faces questions surrounding the future of a landmark commission rule that was shot down by D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, but that the commission is seeking Supreme Court review to overturn. The rule, know as Order 745, is seen by states as key to maintaining grid reliability while keeping electricity prices low for consumers. Under the order, grid operators under the commission’s jurisdiction pay consumers to reduce their electricity use when the grid is stressed.
The utility industry opposed the order in court and won. The industry argues that the regulation distorts the market, which was developed to incentivize power plants, not to get consumers to use less electricity.
The Supreme Court challenge is awaiting a decision by the justices if they will hear the case.
