By State Rep. Helena Scott (D-Detroit), Chair, House Energy, Communications and Technology Committee
Across Michigan in February, hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses saw the impact that severe weather can have on the power grid. While efforts to change the power grid to meet the rise of renewable energy will lead to new projects and potential challenges in the years to come. Both efforts to protect against severe weather and improve the system are apt to run through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
FERC, which is led by Acting Chairman Willie Phillips, is as an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. FERC holds the responsibility for overseeing the nation’s electric and natural gas industries, including regulating the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. As such, they have the power to implement rules around things such as power grid protection standards, as well as approving interconnection projects that will help to spur the advancement of clean energy.
Mr. Phillips has already made some of this work a priority. This year, under his purview, FERC he sought to prioritize speeding up the connecting of power projects to grids to expand wind and solar projects and approved new rules to better protect the power grid from failure during extreme weather. Efforts that will directly help the people of Michigan.
That said, he needs to be given the capacity to continue to act in the best interests of Michigan and the country writ large. He needs to be given a nomination to the position of permanent chairman of FERC.
When President Biden initially nominated Mr. Phillips to the commission in 2021, he received broad support within the Senate, ultimately receiving unanimous confirmation to the role. And in both his 2021 nomination and his 2023 appointment to acting chairman, history was made. After becoming the first African American commission in 40 years in 2021, his rise to acting chairman made him the first African American chairman in the history of the commission.
That latter decision by President Biden has been widely praised. Along with Senators like Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV), the Congressional Black Caucus, the Black Economic Alliance, the Joint Center for Political and Economic studies, and the American Association of Blacks in Energy have all praised the move to make him acting chairman.
While the history and breadth of support for him cannot be understated, it is his expertise and his plans for his time on the commission that make him worthy pick for permanent chairman.
Over the course of his career, he has served on the District of Columbia Public Service Commission (DCPSC), both as a commissioner and as chairman, in addition to having worked on regulatory compliance in the private sector as an Assistant General Counsel for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. His history in regulatory compliance having granted him greater insight into the industry he now creates standards for.
Separately, the priorities he presented at the start of his tenure as acting chairman continue to guide his work on the commission and align with broader goals that the White House has set out to accomplish around energy policy. Having emphasized a focus on reliability, environmental justice, and equity, actions he has taken have already shown a commitment to those issues. This includes an earlier environmental justice and equity roundtable hosted by FERC, as he seeks to ensure the marginalized communities impacted most by the regulatory process and climate change have their voices heard.
Over the next several years, FERC will play a major role in ushering in the next era of energy transmission in the country. In Michigan in particular, with any changes, the focus will remain on reliable transmission and environmental justice as climate change and energy policy continues to impact various communities. Mr. Phillips has shown that he is well equipped to lead FERC through this changing chapter. Whether it’s a commitment to environmental justice or efforts to expand clean energy and protect the power grid, he is up to the task. President Biden needs to put his full support behind him and nominate him as permanent chairman.