FERC appoints new state members to fill vacancies on Electric Transmission Joint Task Force

At a public meeting last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) appointed state nominees to the Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission, filling vacancies left by departing representatives of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners.

New appointees included President Joseph Fiordaliso of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and Commissioner John Howard of the New York Public Service Commission. Together, they take the places of former Chairman Jason Stanek of the Maryland Public Service Commission, and former Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, who both resigned on May 1, 2023. Both nominees were submitted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

“We are pleased that FERC has endorsed our nominations by making these necessary appointments to fill the void for MACRUC,” Michael Caron of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, NARUC president, said. “On behalf of the Association, we are grateful for the contributions of Commissioners Stanek and Dutrieuille.”

The new members will serve the remainder of their predecessors’ one-year terms, until Aug. 31, 2023. They join FERC commissioners, as well as representatives for each of the other nine state commissions. As part of the task force, they will consider topics related to planning and paying for transmission, so as to benefit both the federal and state levels.

Notably, neither will take over the important role Stanek had previously served on the task force before his departure: co-chair. Instead, that role falls to Commissioner Kimberly Duffley of the North Carolina Utilities Commission.