Glick to Step Down as Chair of Federal Energy Regulator

By Christian Roselund

Richard Glick has been forced to step down as chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), after Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin refused to hold a hearing to re-confirm him. Glick’s last FERC meeting was on 15 December 2022, and the agency will start 2023 with only four members to handle ongoing work including transmission approval and cybersecurity matters.

Per tradition, three members of FERC come from the governing party and two from the opposition party. Manchin’s refusal to hold a hearing for Glick will leave the commission with two Republican members and two Democratic members. American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has warned that this 2-2 split could “potentially stall progress on critical transmission policy that is key for realizing the immense potential for investment and renewable deployment under the Inflation Reduction Act.” President Biden is expected to appoint a new Democratic Commission in 2023 and will choose a new chair.

Glick joined the commission in 2017 and was appointed as chair by President Joe Biden in 2021. Biden appointed Glick to a second term this year, but FERC members must be approved in hearings before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Manchin has not responded to questions regarding why he declined to hold the hearing. However, Glick’s moves to review the climate impacts of pipelines and other fossil fuel projects has been widely cited as a likely reason. Manchin has been a champion of fossil fuels, represents a state where coal and natural gas are major industries and has extensive personal investments in coal, oil, and gas.

ACORE President and CEO Gregory Wetstone saluted Glick for his work at FERC, describing him as an “exceptionally effective and visionary leader.”

In FERC’s final meeting of 2022, the agency began a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to revise the regulations governing the siting of interstate transmission lines. This move was initiated by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, which gave FERC an expanded ability to site transmission lines in areas designated by the Department of Energy as being in the national interest. This authority can be triggered if state governments deny an application for the line.

This new NOPR is within the context of a recent provision in Manchin’s permitting reform bill that would transfer the primary authority for priority transmission lines from states to FERC. While this NOPR doesn’t go that far, law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP notes that “FERC’s continued development of its regulations in this area could serve as a subtle warning to state commissions, operating in the background to encourage the siting of important regional and interregional transmission lines.”

Also in this meeting, FERC ordered the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to assess expanding the requirements to safeguard transmission stations and substations beyond the most critical facilities. This comes in the wake of a string of attacks on substations in North Carolina, Oregon and Washington in November and December. The rifle attack on the substation in North Carolina on 3 December 2022 caused the loss of electric service for more than 40,000 customers.

News analysis: FERC meeting: Pipeline win, transmission and Glick’s exit (E&E News)

News analysis: Exit approaching, Glick predicts 2 new FERC commissioners in 2023 (S&P Global)

Legal Analysis: FERC Proposes NOPR on Backstop Siting Authority (Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Lexology)