FERC’s future under President-elect Trump uncertain

• 8 years ago (2016-11-10)
• David Flin

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President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to remove US funding for clean energy and combatting climate change, but it is less clear what effect he will have on the grid regulatory, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Two of the five seats on the board of FERC will change early in 2017, with implications for its strategic direction.

Because FERC’s role is managing the state and federally regulated electricity and gas networks, it is less of an obvious target for funding cuts than the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, or the Department of Energy’s support for renewable energy. However, FERC is critical for opening markets to non-fossil-fuel alternatives such as demand response, solar power, and wind power. Former FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff was a keen advocate for clean and carbon-neutral energy systems, putting them at the forefront of the agency’s mission.

In January 2017, two of the five seats on the FERC board will become available, giving the Trump administration the opportunity to appoint people with a different view of FERC’s direction. Given Trump’s statements of support for coal and oil, it is probable that the appointees will strongly represent those views.

FERC has been balancing the needs of the fossil fuel power industry and the needs of alternatives to big power plants.

Currently, FERC has largely tended to favour the latter. According to a report from Duke University, Harvard Law School, and the University of North Carolina, the Trump administration will need to handle: “Ongoing disputes relating to the generation mix, resource adequacy, compensation for distributed energy resources, implementation of the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978, and competition policy.”

The Trump administration will also determine whether FERC will have responsibility for supporting distributed energy resources such as solar PV, behind-the-meter batteries, plug-in vehicles, and energy-smart buildings.