President Donald Trump made it official Aug. 13, naming David Rosner as the new chair of FERC several workdays after former Chair Mark Christie resigned.
“I am honored to serve as chairman and excited to continue working with my colleagues on the commission and FERC’s extraordinary staff to enable reliable, affordable and abundant energy for all Americans,” Rosner said in a statement. “Energy lights our homes, powers our businesses, and we need it more than ever to grow the innovative industries of the future.”
Trump picking a Democratic nominee to run the agency over a well-qualified Republican, Commissioner Lindsay See, was a surprise. (See FERC Independence Likely Coming to an End with Christie’s Exit.)
But the position could be interim, as two nominees from the president are awaiting Senate confirmation sometime after that body returns from a summer break. Laura Swett is widely reported to be in line for the chair. Like Rosner before he was elevated to the commission, she is a former FERC staffer — having worked for former Chair Kevin McIntyre and former Commissioner Bernard McNamee.
Rosner has been a commissioner since June 2024 and brings two decades of experience to the job across energy technologies, market design and energy policy issues. He was an energy industry analyst for FERC and spent two years on detail to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) became a big supporter for his nomination as commissioner.
Before coming to FERC, Rosner was a senior policy adviser for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis and was an associate director at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s energy project.
Rosner earned master’s degrees in economics and public policy from American University and a bachelor’s in economics from Tufts University. He lives in the D.C. area with his family.
NERC was quick to congratulate Rosner.
“Chairman Rosner has been a strong voice supporting abundant and reliable electricity to serve the nation’s growing energy needs,” the ERO said. “We look forward to continued work with Chairman Rosner on advancing the reliability and security of the electric grid.”
Other congratulations came through on social media, with McNamee posting on X that Rosner “will do a great job.”
WIRES Group Executive Director Larry Gasteiger posted congratulations on X, saying the trade group “looks forward to working with you and your colleagues on getting the energy infrastructure built to meet the nation’s growing needs.”
Coal power trade group America’s Power welcomed Rosner being named chair with a statement from CEO Michelle Bloodworth.
“Chairman Rosner is an experienced policymaker with the skills, knowledge and open mindedness necessary to assure that FERC continues its work to improve the reliability of our nation’s electricity grid,” she said.
Meanwhile, the environmental group Friends of the Earth said that “a close review of Rosner’s work reveals a disturbing pattern of dirty energy advocacy.”
“Rosner has promoted the gas and the fossil fuel industry for years and is far too biased to hold this position,” said Raena Garcia, senior climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “Democrats who care about the climate should reject him out of hand.”
