Just two days after election day, I received a call informing me that President Trump had relieved me of my duties as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, after two years of leading the agency. Because FERC is an independent multi-member commission, however, I find myself in a unique position: although I am no longer chairman, I am able to continue serving out my term as a commissioner. I’ve made a commitment to the American people to do just that — to stay the course during this pivotal moment and carry forward the important work I began as chairman.
Over the last two years, FERC has accomplished a great deal, ranging from PURPA reforms to processing 14 LNG facility certificate applications. But of all that we’ve achieved, I’m perhaps most proud of what we did to open up our markets to new technologies, removing barriers to energy storage and distributed energy resources, or DERs. Orders 841 and 2222 are two game-changing, bipartisan efforts that I championed as chairman because I believed in their promise to usher in our modern energy future. When new technologies like storage and DERs can compete in our wholesale markets, they thrive, and the markets spur the next wave of innovations. Most importantly, consumers win in the form of lower costs, cleaner energy services, and a more resilient and reliable grid. I look forward to working with my colleagues at the commission as Order 841 is implemented and as the Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators work through their Order 2222 compliance filings. And as the nation continues to accelerate toward electric vehicles, I am committed to examining the affect electric vehicles will have on our transmission system and wholesale capacity, energy, and ancillary services markets.
Another issue I’d like to advance during my tenure is what I consider to be one of the toughest and most important challenges of our time: how our nation will address climate change and reduce carbon emissions. Although FERC is not an environmental regulator, there’s no question that the markets we oversee are affected by this issue. Rather than ignoring the elephant in the room, I chose to face it head on by convening a technical conference on the intersection of carbon pricing and the wholesale markets we oversee. In my opinion, it turned out to be one of the most critical and productive technical conferences in commission history. Based on the sound record we built at the technical conference, we took the significant step of issuing a proposed policy statement to begin setting forth a roadmap that states and regional operators can follow if they are interested in proposing rules to incorporate carbon pricing into FERC-jurisdictional tariffs. Although these issues and actions have been politicized and may have cost me the gavel, I stand by them. I look forward to working to advance market-based approaches as we grapple with this incredibly important issue.
I’m also proud that we were able to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or NOPR, on transmission line ratings, something my team worked extremely hard on with staff for well over a year. By requiring the use of ambient adjusted line ratings throughout the country, our commonsense proposal will unlock underutilized transmission capacity and reduce congestion costs, which ultimately benefits consumers. In my new role of Commissioner, I am committed to reviewing the comments and working tirelessly with my team and my colleagues to press forward towards a final rule on this long overdue reform.
I also expect the commission to finalize reforms to our transmission incentives policy. Earlier this year, we issued a NOPR that proposed replacing our existing risks and challenges approach to transmission incentives with one that focused on incentivizing projects that provide tangible benefits in the form of enhanced reliability and reducing the cost of delivered power. This back-to-basics approach not only more closely follows our statutory obligations, but also simply makes sense: we should be incentivizing the most beneficial projects, not the riskiest ones. Updating our transmission incentives policy will help us move towards the grid of the future, and so again I am committed to working just as hard as a Commissioner to finish the work that was started during my chairmanship.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not address the ongoing pandemic that arrived unexpectedly earlier this year. When COVID-19 cast its shadow across the globe, we had no playbook to follow. Leading FERC through the early days and months of the pandemic, as the virus upended all of our lives, was a deep privilege. I remain floored by the adaptability and resiliency of the more than 1,400 dedicated professionals who make up FERC. They transitioned to full telework on a dime and rolled up their sleeves to support partners across industry and government. In the most trying of circumstances, they took on all the extra work created by the pandemic while also maintaining — perhaps even accelerating — the pace of our normal business and processing of filings. This critical work helped provide regulatory certainty and stability to the energy industry, which was doing everything it could to keep the lights on for families and businesses throughout our nation. As we round the bend and begin to recover as a nation, FERC will continue to lead.
FERC was ranked as the Best Place to Work in the Federal Government because of the indefatigable and immensely talented FERC staff. It was an honor of a lifetime to lead them and serve the American people as Chairman of FERC. And it will continue to be an honor to serve and work alongside them in 2021 to carry forward our important work and shape America’s energy future.
