E&E Daily covered President Trump's paired FERC nominees, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire E&E Daily piece here. 

President Trump's unexpected nomination of a Democratic and Republican pair to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has eased fears about the agency's ability to function and could ensure a Republican majority on the panel through June 2021. The White House decision to nominate its Republican choice and also someone Democrats have been pushing for months will likely ease the confirmation process... 

The White House yesterday announced the president's intention to nominate Democrat Allison Clements and Republican Mark Christie to the independent energy agency. Clements is a longtime energy attorney, and Christie is the chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The five-member agency is currently one commissioner short. In addition to McNamee, the commission includes Republican Chairman Neil Chatterjee, Republican James Danly and lone Democrat Richard Glick.

If confirmed, Christie will take the seat of McNamee, whose tenure expired but who plans to stay on until his replacement is instated... There were only three commissioners at FERC leading up to the 2016 presidential election. President Trump designated Cheryl LaFleur as chairwoman instead of keeping then-Commissioner Norman Bay in the role...

Jeff Dennis, managing director and general counsel for Advanced Energy Economy, said he's also pleased with the bipartisan nominations.

"It's great to see the return of paired nominations and the respect for bipartisanship on the commission," he said. "It's something many of us were disappointed by in the last nomination process...

Read the entire E&E Daily piece here.