On November 30, 2020, in a late night voice vote, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nominations of Mark Christie and Allison Clements as FERC Commissioners. Once they are sworn in as Commissioners, the bipartisan pairing will fill the remaining two seats on the five-member Commission, with Christie occupying the seat last held by former Commissioner Bernard McNamee for a term ending on June 30, 2025 and Clements occupying the seat last held by Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur for a term ending on June 30, 2024.

The Commission will be comprised of three Republicans (Chairman James Danly, along with Commissioners Neil Chatterjee and Mark Christie) and two Democrats (Commissioners Richard Glick and Allison Clements) after Christie and Clements are sworn in.  The Trump Administration previously declined to pair Chairman Danly’s nomination with the nomination of a Democrat (see March 18, 2020 edition of the WER), which raised concern among some in the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Chairman Danly released a statement, saying “I am delighted that our two new colleagues have been confirmed and I look forward to working with them.”

A copy of the FERC press release regarding the U.S. Senate confirmations is available here.