Now, those types of public squabbles may be a thing of the past as Willie Phillips settles into his new role as acting chair, a job President Joe Biden gave him this week.
Phillips will set the tone and agenda at FERC for the foreseeable future — although a new chair from outside the commission could be nominated at any time. A Democrat and self-described consensus-builder who has so far stayed above the fray, Phillips is likely to advance proposed rules aimed at more efficiently connecting new energy projects to the grid and building new long-distance power lines. Both are priorities for renewable energy advocates…
“His natural orientation is to drive stakeholder consensus, and he’ll be very cautious to pursue reforms that divide stakeholders and are deeply contentious,” said Devin Hartman, director of energy and environmental policy at the R Street Institute, a pro-free markets think tank, as well as a former FERC staffer. “I foresee less bold action on divisive issues and more bold action on areas of stakeholder alignment…”
