FERC’s Office of Public Participation is up and running 44 years after Congress first directed the agency to create it.

FERC OPP Director Elin Katz | © RTO Insider LLC

It’s a very different world than lawmakers probably imagined back then. For one, the office has had to start up almost entirely virtually as the pandemic continues to keep workers away from the office.

But Elin Katz, a former consumer advocate who was appointed director of OPP in October, has been diving right in despite the circumstances.

“It’s been hard, but we’re going along, and like everybody else, we’re doing the best we can under the circumstances,” she said during an event hosted by the Connecticut Power and Energy Society Wednesday.

So what does OPP do, anyway?

A big part of the job is answering calls from people looking to engage with FERC’s work.

“I think of us as a soft place to land,” Katz said.

About 30% of the calls have nothing to do with FERC jurisdictional issues, but Katz said the office tries to find answers for every call.

OPP is also doing outreach and creating educational materials to help the public understand better how the agency operates.

And Katz said she has started an informal mission within the office called Comments Matter to let people know that their voices are heard.

“You can file a comment fairly easily. It tells you how to do that on our website,” she said. “But I also reassure people that when you file a comment … the commissioners read them.”

Katz is aware that some issues tend to attract more voices than others.

“There’s a lot of concern around infrastructure development,” she said. “A lot of the angst in recent years has been around … pipelines, and that was part of the impetus for the office, to make sure that people who are impacted by infrastructure projects are able to bring their voice in earlier.”

Transmission infrastructure is also a growing point of notice for the office.

The office, she said, wants to understand how to make sure that the public and affected parties are part of the process and FERC is protecting environmental justice communities from unnecessary infrastructure development.

OPP is planning to hold its first in-person staff meeting at the April open meeting.

The office is also still staffing up. FERC is hiring a supervisory energy markets adviser and supervisory infrastructure adviser for OPP.

“We’re building the plane as we fly it,” Katz said, adding that anyone can reach out to OPP if they need assistance understanding what is happening at FERC.

And she had a request for members of the public.

“Hold our feet to the fire,” she said. “Make sure we’re meeting your expectations and giving you, as members of the public, what you need.”