By Alex Spratley & Antonia Douglas on January 22, 2025
Posted in FERC PracticeOn January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. On his first day in office, President Trump signed various executive orders effectuating administrative and policy changes across the federal government, including naming a new FERC Chairman and declaring a national energy emergency. First, President Trump tapped Commissioner Christie as the next FERC Chairman. Chairman Christie began his term as a FERC Commissioner in 2021 after being nominated by President Trump, and Chairman Christie’s current term is set to expire on June 30, 2025. Before joining FERC, Chairman Christie served as the Chairman and Commissioner of the Virginia State Corporation Commission. In a statement addressing his appointment, Chairman Christie noted that, as FERC Chairman, he would continue to emphasize three priorities: (1) “protect[ing] consumers from excessive power costs,” (2) addressing the country’s “reliability crisis driven by the dangerous pace of retirements of dispatchable generation units and failure to build sufficient new generation,” and (3) continuing to foster “the critically important role of the states and their utility regulators in meeting these reliability and affordability challenges.” As of this writing, former Chairman Phillips has not indicated whether he has decided to finish his term, which expires June 30, 2026. If former Chairman Phillips remains as a Commissioner, Democrats would retain a 3-2 majority. However, if former Chairman Phillips resigns before the end of his term, President Trump could nominate a replacement Commissioner that would give Republicans the majority. FERC’s news release covering Chairman Christie’s appointment can be found here. Additionally, President Trump signed a slate of energy-related executive orders. In particular, President Trump declared “a national energy emergency,” stating that the country’s “insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy.” The executive orders direct agency heads to identify emergency approvals and other available authority to “facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources” on federal and non-federal lands and to identify agency actions that pose an “undue burden” on the development of domestic energy resources, “with particular attention to” fossil fuels, including oil, natural gas, and coal. The executive orders also temporarily halt leasing and permitting of offshore wind projects and reverse former President Biden’s restrictions on resource development on certain Alaska lands. Finally, the executive orders roll back former President Biden’s climate initiatives promoting clean energy infrastructure. The full texts of the executive orders can be found here.
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