The Washington Post's Energy 202 reported on Trump naming a Republican nominee for FERC Commissioner without pairing with a Democrat, quoting AEE's General Counsel and Managing Director Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire Washington Post piece here, a version of which also appeared in the print edition on Oct. 3.

President Trump finally chose a new Republican commissioner for a key panel of federal energy regulators. But he did so without naming a Democrat to go with him, setting off a potential battle with Senate Democrats over the future of renewable energy and gas pipeline projects across the country. On Monday, the White House announced the president intends to nominate James Danly to be a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Danly, a Republican, currently serves as the panel’s general counsel and would fill a vacancy left by the death in January of former FERC chairman Kevin J. McIntyre. If confirmed by the Senate, Danly would serve until 2023.

But Trump’s White House broke with decades-old tradition by not nominating a Democrat along with Danly, provoking the ire of Senate Democrats who charge Trump with potentially tilting the balance of the normally bipartisan commission...

All FERC commissioners are required to be confirmed by the Senate. The White House could ultimately send Danly's and Clements's nominations to the chamber as a package.

“Putting up only one nominee in this situation is unique,” said Jeff Dennis, who worked at FERC for 11 years before becoming managing director and general counsel at Advanced Energy Economy, a clean-energy trade association. “It would tip the balance more severely at the commission than it is right now.”

Read the entire Washington Post piece here.