Cheryl LaFleur became acting chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Sunday, succeeding Jon Wellinghoff, who came under pressure to resign after accepting a law firm position in October.
As a sitting commissioner, LaFleur won’t require Senate confirmation. But she would need congressional clearance if she were to continue in the post after her four-year term ends in June.
Wellinghoff, who is joining the Washington office of Portland-based Stoel Rives LLP, announced his departure at the end of Thursday’s commission meeting. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) had criticized Wellinghoff’s plans to remain on the commission until the end of the current session of Congress, even though the chairman said he would recuse himself from cases involving Stoel Rives.
Wellinghoff had remained on the commission after his term expired in July while awaiting Senate confirmation of a successor. Colorado regulator Ron Binz withdrew from contention Oct. 1 in the face of opposition from Senate Republicans and coal interests.
Among those floated as potential nominees to the five-member commission are Arkansas Public Service Commission Chair Colette Honorable, who was elected last week as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners; Norman Bay, director of FERC’s Office of Enforcement; Tennessee Valley Authority board member Lynn Evans, and former Nevada regulator Rose McKinney-James. The commission is currently split between Democrats LaFleur and John Norris and Republicans Philip Moeller and Tony Clark.
Wellinghoff was FERC’s longest-serving chair, appointed in March 2009 after about two years as a commissioner.
A Harvard Law School graduate, LaFleur held numerous positions in New England Electric System and its successor, National Grid USA. She was senior vice president and acting CEO when she retired in 2007.
At FERC, LaFleur has concentrated on reliability and grid security issues. She co-chaired the FERC/NARUC Forum on Reliability and the Environment.
In a statement yesterday, LaFleur noted the commission’s role in ensuring reliability as the generation fleet faces retirements due to environmental regulations. “The Commission also has important work ahead in implementing Order No. 1000, setting transmission rates, and ensuring competitive markets work fairly and effectively for consumers,” she said.
Although she has backed the commission’s major initiatives, LaFleur has not agreed with all decisions. In March, for example, she dissented from an order requiring PJM to allocate the costs of large new transmission lines on a broad “postage-stamp” basis. LaFleur had favored a hybrid approach, combining a localized, “distribution factor” calculation and a broader assessment of benefits for postage-stamp allocation. The effect of that decision is limited to projects PJM had approved before February of this year. The grid operator proposed a hybrid method for projects approved after that time; FERC approved it in March.
