Biden appoints Democrat Glick chair of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

President Joe Biden on Thursday named Richard Glick, a Democrat, as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Glick currently serves the commission on a term lasting until June 30, 2022. He was originally nominated to FERC by former President Donald Trump in 2017.

“I’m honored President Joe Biden has selected me to be @FERC Chairman, thank you Mr. @POTUS,” Glick tweeted after the announcement. “This is an important moment to make significant progress on the transition to a clean energy future. I look forward to working with my colleagues to tackle the many challenges ahead!”

Glick replaces James Danly, a Republican who was chosen by Trump and who served as chairman since November 2020.

Before joining the commission, Glick was general counsel for the Democrats on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, serving as a senior policy advisor on numerous issues including electricity and renewable energy. Glick also worked for Iberdrola’s renewable energy, electric and gas utility, as well as its U.S. natural gas storage business, and at both PPM Energy and PacifiCorp.

Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), said Glick “has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to unlocking the regulatory barriers to the clean energy transition.”

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the association that represents U.S. investor-owned electric companies, was among the groups that congratulated the chairman on his new position.

“Chairman Glick has a deep understanding of the federal regulatory process, and his experience makes him very qualified to lead FERC,” EEI president Tom Kuhn said. “We look forward to working with him and the Commission to advance key regulatory policies that impact our industry and our customers.”

EEI Executive Vice President Phil Moeller added that the association encourages FERC “to address the many key issues impacting EEI member companies and our customers, including making necessary reforms in wholesale electricity markets; enabling the development of the transmission infrastructure needed to deliver more clean energy to customers; and continuing to focus on reliability and energy grid security.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said it looked forward to working with the commissioners to ensure that FERC preserves open markets, facilitates state clean-energy policy priorities, and considers the full climate impacts of its decisions.

“FERC’s rules and policies must keep pace with the dramatic energy transformation taking place across the nation,” said John Moore, director of the Sustainable FERC Project at the NRDC.