Bipartisan nominees to lead America’s energy regulation agency passed a committee vote and now head to Senate floor for full vote
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper applauded the committee passage of the nominations of three new commissioners to serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
“America is leading in AI, retaking our place in the semiconductor industry and rolling out more cheap, clean energy than ever before,” said Hickenlooper. “All of that comes to a grinding halt if our energy grid can’t keep up. FERC – with Congress passing comprehensive permitting reform – can make the difference.”
Hickenlooper, a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, voted in favor of all three nominees. The nominations now head to the Senate floor for a full vote.
FERC is an independent federal agency that regulates key aspects of the electricity, natural gas, and oil industries. FERC has up to five Commissioners, appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
FERC recently released a final rule that attempts to address regional and long-term transmission planning. Hickenlooper has introduced two bills that would contribute to comprehensive permitting reform and boost the electric grid. The first, Hickenlooper’s SPEED & Reliability Act, would reduce duplicative environmental reviews for national interest transmission lines and allow state and federal reviews to happen simultaneously. The second, Hickenlooper’s BIG WIRES Act, streamlines the country’s patchwork energy transmission system by directing FERC to better coordinate construction of an interregional transmission system.
###