On February 9, President Biden announced Willie L. Phillips, Jr. as Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Phillips has served as FERC Commissioner since November 17, 2021, and as Acting Chairman of FERC since January 3, 2023. APGA is excited to welcome Phillips as the Chairman of FERC and looks forward to working with him on the unique challenges facing public natural gas utilities.
While he had some of these responsibilities as acting chair, uncertainty is now gone and Phillips, as chairman, can focus on setting and completing his agenda for the commission. Several items FERC could work on under Chairman Phillips’ leadership are important to APGA’s members, including gas-electric harmonization, additional natural gas infrastructure permits, and ensuring appropriate pipeline rates. If Congress does pass legislation, Chairman Phillips and his colleagues at FERC would implement reforms of Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), an advocacy priority for APGA.
Chairman Phillips previously served as Chairman of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia. Prior to this role, Phillips served as the Assistant General Counsel for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Phillips also previously worked as an attorney advising clients on regulatory compliance, litigation, and policy matters. Phillips holds his Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law and Bachelor of Science from the University of Montevallo. He is a native of Fairhope, AL, which is a community served by an APGA member.
Additionally, FERC Commissioner Allison Clements announced that she will not seek another term. Her term expires on June 30, 2024; however, she could remain at FERC until January 3, 2025, the expected end of this Congressional session. This departure could leave FERC, a five-member commission, without a quorum if Clements leaves before another commissioner is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Decisions needed to support the work of public gas utilities would be on hold if there is no quorum at FERC.
For questions on this article, please contact Sydney Novoa of APGA by phone at 202-464-0834 (111) or email at snovoa@apga.org.