FERC Commissioner David LaCerte was back before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 25, just four months after being sworn in, for a hearing on his nomination for a full five-year term.

LaCerte was confirmed by the Senate in October to complete former Chair Willie Phillips’ term, which ends June 30. (See Senate Confirms Swett, LaCerte to Open Seats on FERC.)

The commissioner once again told the committee he supports expanding LNG and related onshore infrastructure to make natural gas exports possible. Speaking of his experience on FERC, he said the commission is focused on ensuring the U.S. wins the artificial intelligence race.

“This may be the defining competitive challenge of our generation,” LaCerte said. “If we are not the world’s leader in AI, our adversaries surely will be. We need to meet this moment, and we will do so without sacrificing affordability.”

So far, the biggest action FERC has taken on the issue has been to approve new transmission service options for data centers that want to co-locate with generators on PJM’s system. (See FERC Approves Transmission Deals Between ComEd and Data Centers.)

“I recognize this represents a first step in a very long road, but I’m proud of the decisive action the commission took at a time when energy demand is rising and reliability challenges are mounting,” LaCerte said.

He also said his personal focus is on ratepayers, reiterating what he said at his first open meeting of the commission in November.

“There are always people looking to curry favor for one project or one industry,” LaCerte said. “And I meant what I said: None of those people represent the ratepayers; I do. My commitment to the ratepayer has not wavered.” He emphasized that FERC has a duty to ensure that ordinary consumers do not face undue costs as the country deals with the demand growth from data centers and reindustrialization.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) asked LaCerte whether FERC needed to ensure that regions were doing adequate long-term transmission planning.

“In the past, I think we probably could have tightened some screws with some of the some of the plannings that have been done, both regionally, interregionally and at the state level themselves,” LaCerte said. “I think that it’s important that we squeeze every possible lot out of the existing grid that we have, and that means more diligent, more proper planning and taking a harder look at all the decisions before us.”

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said the power grid is designed to meet peak demand, which leads to inefficiencies. He asked whether LaCerte supports grid-enhancing technologies to make it more efficient.

“I think we need to squeeze every megawatt of the existing grid that we can — whether that’s dynamic line ratings, whether that’s grid-enhancing technologies of any type — but I can’t endorse one over another,” LaCerte said. “I think we need to do a much better job of being efficient with the grid that we have, in addition to building new transmission.”

The hearing was just on LaCerte’s nomination; the committee also heard from Kyle Haustveit, nominated to be undersecretary of energy, and former Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), who is up for director of the Bureau of Land Management. Haustveit is currently assistant secretary for fossil energy and carbon management at the Department of Energy.

The committee is well stocked with Westerners, several of whom noted how much land BLM controls in their states, but Pearce was also asked about the power sector. King noted that the bureau’s parent agency, the Department of the Interior, has not been processing renewable projects on federal lands under normal orders, requiring the secretary to sign off on individual projects.

“We’re facing a 2%-a-year increase in demand, which is unprecedented; compounded in 10 years, that’s a 30% increase in demand,” King said. “How are we going to get there by eliminating a significant source of energy from consideration?”

King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, asked what Pearce and Republicans will think if a future Democratic administration uses the same tactics to stymie fossil fuel development on federal lands.

Pearce did not answer the questions directly, saying he did not have the information to comment on the policy.

“It’s a conversation I’m more than willing to have with you and with the administration, but I don’t know the rationale,” he said.