The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee heard from President Trump's nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Laura Sweatt and David Lacerte, in a confirmation hearing that centered on FERC's statutory independence and the commission's role in ensuring affordable, reliable electricity as demand grows.

The hearing matters because FERC's decisions shape interstate transmission, wholesale power markets, pipeline and LNG terminal approvals and reliability standards that affect consumers, businesses and national security.

Chairman Mike Lee opened the hearing by saying the nominees would be judged on whether they would enforce the law and prioritize reliability and affordability. He described FERC as a commission
that must adopt policies that keep pace with today's economy.
Laura Sweatt, currently energy and litigation counsel at Vincent & Elkins, described a 15-year career at and around FERC and pledged: "I will follow the law and honor the law in everything that I do and consider the merits of every single issue, the law and the facts before me, irrespective of where the litigation comes out and the length of my term." David Lacerte, a special counsel at Baker Botts and a former federal and state official, echoed that promise: "We would ... follow the law," and added he would bring a "common sense approach" to speed reviews and reduce administrative burdens.

Committee members pressed both nominees on several recurring policy topics. Senators raised concerns about the pace at which new generation and storage interconnect to the grid. Members cited a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory analysis mentioned at the hearing that, as of 2024, roughly 2,300 gigawatts of generation and storage capacity were held up in interconnection queues. Senators also noted average interconnection wait times in some regional transmission organizations (RTOs) can be about five years and that those delays risk increasing costs and slowing projects needed to meet rapidly rising demand from data centers and artificial intelligence workloads.

On agency independence and removal authority, nominees were asked about Humphrey's Executor and executive-branch influence. Lacerte said he would "follow the law" and noted he would accept any change the Supreme Court requires; Sweatt emphasized statutory limits and cited the DOE Organization Act of 1978 as creating FERC's independence, saying she would "go back to the statute" in decisions.

Permitting and environmental review were also discussed. Senators referenced a recent Supreme Court ruling described in the hearing as an 8-0 decision that narrowed the scope of environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and said the decision should reduce regulatory uncertainty. Sweatt said the ruling (referred to in the hearing as the "7 County decision") "significantly narrow[s] the scope of environmental review required under NEPA" and that, if confirmed, she would look for process efficiencies at FERC while respecting the law.

Committee members also sought commitments on several practical issues: maintaining FERC's staff and resisting politically directed large-scale reductions in force (both nominees expressed support for the career staff), preserving neutrality among generation technologies (both pledged to follow the Federal Power Act's requirement of non-discrimination), and exploring grid-enhancing technologies and batteries to increase utilization of existing transmission. On hydropower relicensing, nominees said they would review FERC's part in the process to identify efficiencies while noting other federal and state actors are involved.

Nominees were asked about tribal consultation and engagement; both said they would review tribal outreach and take a hard look at record submissions from tribes in project proceedings. Senators from states with large energy sectors (including Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Iowa and North Dakota) pressed nominees on how FERC can balance rapid project deployment, property and states' rights, and cost protections for ratepayers.

The hearing closed with the chairman noting procedural next steps: questions for the record were due by 6 p.m. on September 4. The nominees were sworn at the start of the hearing; no formal votes on the nominations occurred during the session.