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Senator urges quick confirmation of three FERC nominees, highlights Lindsey C.'s record
Summary
An unidentified senator urged the Senate to confirm nominees David Rosner, Lindsey C, and Judy Chang to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, stressing FERC's role in energy reliability and Lindsey C.'s legal experience and pledge to consider local landowners when reviewing transmission projects.
An unidentified senator used floor time to press colleagues to confirm three nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: David Rosner, Lindsey C, and Judy Chang, saying failure to keep FERC fully staffed risks delays to energy projects and harms workers and consumers.
The senator said FERC "regulates the interstate transmission of electricity" and the interstate transportation of oil and natural gas, and "assures the rates for electric power in the wholesale market are, quote, just and reasonable." He argued that, by one estimate, the commission regulates activities that account for roughly 7% of the U.S. economy and that maintaining a quorum on the commission is therefore essential to energy security.
The senator recounted past vacancies, alleging that in 2015 and 2016 President Obama declined to fill two Republican vacancies and that the outgoing FERC chairman resigned in January 2017, leaving the commission without a quorum. "We can't let that happen again, mister president," he said, adding that it took seven months to restore a quorum and that "too many projects" were put on hold during that interval.
He singled out nominee Lindsey C., calling her "well qualified," and highlighted her academic and professional record: graduating summa laude from Patrick Henry College, magna laude from Harvard Law School where she served as executive editor of the Harvard Law Review, a clerkship with Judge Thomas Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals, and seven years as solicitor general of West Virginia. The senator said Lindsey C. had overseen civil and criminal appeals in state and federal courts and had argued two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Referring to Lindsey C.'s testimony to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the senator said she committed to exercise "extreme care" when considering applications for electric transmission lines, to "faithfully adhere to" and "apply the law," and to take into account the consequences for local landowners in public-interest analyses.
Closing his remarks, the senator said he believed farmers and other landowners would be worse off if Lindsey C. were not confirmed and urged his colleagues to vote in favor of her confirmation as the Senate considers the nominations this week.
