Utility Dive summarized FERC’s search for a replacement for outgoing Commissioner Chatterjee (former AEE staffer Maria Duaime Robinson among top picks), quoting AEE’s Jeff Dennis. Read snippets below and the full article here.

As the clock ticks down on Commissioner Neil Chatterjee's time at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the task of finding a replacement commissioner is growing more urgent for industry and environmental groups. But in Congress, the appointment is being less closely watched than by the industry, despite its potential to accelerate Democratic priorities on renewables integration, fossil fuel infrastructure and more, according to one Democratic representative.

The question of who will fill Chatterjee's seat took on new urgency last week as the commissioner announced that July would, probably, be his last open meeting.

The Biden administration has yet to send a nominee to the Senate, where the candidate would need to be approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Mont., is the ranking member. Any candidate would also need to be approved by the full Senate.

Massachusetts State Rep. Maria Duaime Robinson, D, has been vetted by the White House, and is a favorite among some renewable energy stakeholders, but other names have been floated as well…

The fifth commissioner will be a crucial swing vote to a commission that is currently majority Republican, with Commissioners Chatterjee, Mark Christie and James Danly.

Confirming a nominee quickly is becoming "increasingly urgent," said Jeff Dennis, managing director and general counsel at Advanced Energy Economy in an email, given the many pending issues in front of the commission that "are foundational to the clean energy transition."

"FERC's ability to actually make decisions on those things — to issue orders and conduct rulemakings — requires a full complement of commissioners," he said. "Without a full Commission, items simply stall, with real impacts to the development of advanced energy resources."

Read the full article here.