President Trump Names New Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman

In addition to the blitz of Executive Orders President Trump signed on January 20, an additional document designated Mark Christie as Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).   

Chairman Christie first took office at FERC on January 4, 2021.  This new responsibility as Chairman follows caps off his time on the Commission since early 2021, and also his tenure as a state regulator in Virginia, where he served as Chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission (VCC), the agency responsible for the regulation of utilities, insurance, and banking.  His combined service on the VCC as both Commissioner and Chairman was nearly 17 years.  During his time as a state regulator, Chairman Christie served for more than a decade on the governing board of the Organization of PJM States, Inc. (OPSI), an organization of utility regulators from 13 states and the District of Columbia.   

FERC is the independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil.  More specifically, FERC regulates the transmission and wholesale transactions of electricity in interstate commerce; the transmission and sale of natural gas for resale in interstate commerce; and the transportation of oil by pipelines in interstate commerce.  Another critical role of FERC is to review proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals for non-deepwater ports, interstate natural gas pipelines, and hydropower projects.   

Chairman Christie brings to the Chairmanship a depth and range of experience that is unrivaled.  He understands utility law and the limits on federal action.  In a dissent to FERC Order 1920,1 which addressed various matters concerning regional transmission planning and cost allocation for those lines, his own words tell the reader his view of the federal government’s role under the Federal Power Act:   

“The final rule should be seen for what it is:  a pretext to enact, through administrative action, a sweeping legislative and policy agenda that Congress never passed.  The final rule claims statutory authority the Commission does not have to issue an absurdly complex bureaucratic blizzard of mandates and micromanagement to be imposed on every transmission provider in the United States for the transparent goal of spending trillions of consumers’ dollars on transmission not to serve consumers in accordance with the FPA, but instead to serve political, corporate, and other special-interest agendas that were never enacted into law.”

Americans for Prosperity applauds President Trump for naming Chairman Christie to this vital role that oversees our nation’s energy infrastructure; and looks forward to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission led by a professional with respect for the distinct role of states in the energy space.