White House sends McIntyre, Glick's FERC nominations to US Senate

Aug. 14, 2017
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moved one step closer to regaining its quorum as the White House sent its nominations of Richard Glick and Kevin J. McIntyre to be FERC members to the US Senate for approval on Aug. 2.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moved one step closer to regaining its quorum as the White House sent its nominations of Richard Glick and Kevin J. McIntyre to be FERC members to the US Senate for approval on Aug. 2.

McIntyre, who also ultimately would become FERC's chairman, would serve both the remainder of a term expiring June 30, 2018, from which Norman Bay resigned in February, and a full term expiring June 30, 2023, the White House noted. Glick's term would expire June 30, 2022, it said.

An American Petroleum Institute official urged the Senate to approve the nominations promptly. "FERC has gone without a quorum for far too long, stalling nearly $4 billion of investment in our nation's energy infrastructure," said API Midstream and Industry Operations Group Director Robin Rorick.

"Approval of these well-qualified nominees by the Senate will ensure that the agency can return to its mission of evaluating and approving needed energy infrastructure projects around the country," he maintained.

The White House's latest action means that it has officially sent four FERC nominations-those of Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson, as well as Glick and McIntyre's-to the Senate for confirmation, LNG Allies Executive Director Fred H. Hutchison said in an Aug. 2 thank-you letter to President Donald J. Trump.

"This matter is important to US LNG export project sponsors because the absence of a FERC quorum has created an agency backlog that-if left unaddressed-could negatively [affect] the timeline for a dozen pending LNG export project applications," he told the president.

"All of these projects are at or near the formal FERC review stage and thus could be ripe for decisions in a 12-15 month time period beginning in the first quarter of 2018," Hutchison explained.

He said that while FERC is an independent federal agency, he hopes the Trump administration finds other ways to help it accelerate its LNG approval process, including directing other federal agencies to be more cooperative during FERC's environmental reviews.

"This is one area where the 'ship really does hit the water' with respect to LNG permitting and the 'cooperating' federal departments and agencies can surely 'lend an oar' to the effort," Hutchison maintained.