Senate Committee Approves FERC Nominees LaFleur & Bay

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On June 18, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the nominations of Norman Bay and Cheryl LaFleur to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by votes of 13-9 and 21-1, respectively.  Prior to the vote, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced that the White House had agreed to name LaFleur to be Chair for a nine-month period; after that, Bay would take over as Chair. Both nominees now must be confirmed by the full Senate.  No vote has been scheduled, although Chairman Mary Landrieu (D-LA) said she expected it after the July 4 recess. 

In related news, on May 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned FERC Order No. 745, which required ISO/RTOs to pay electric consumers for "demand response;" that is, for reducing their retail electric usage during certain periods.  

The Court said that Order No. 745 exceeded the Commission’s authority under the Federal Power Act.  Even if FERC had authority to regulate demand response, the Court said, its actions were still unlawful since it had failed to address arguments that the demand response payments it had authorized were too high.  

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