President Biden early Thursday named Commissioner Richard Glick as FERC chairman, replacing Republican James Danly, who held the gavel for little more than two months. Glick, one of two Democrats on the five-member commission, was the widely expected pick. He needed to only wait half a day before receiving direction from the new president, a far cry from when former President Donald Trump unexpectedly demoted Chair Norman Bay six days after his inauguration in 2017. That led to Bay’s resignation and the loss of the commission’s quorum for six months. (See Bay Resigns after Trump Taps LaFleur as Acting FERC Chair.)

Glick would join later that year in November after serving as general counsel for the Democrats on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He served as the lone Democrat on the commission for more than a year after the departure of Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur in August 2019 until the arrival of Allison Clements last month.

Prior to his job in the Senate, Glick was vice president of government affairs for Iberdrola’s renewable energy, electric and gas utility, and natural gas storage businesses in the U.S.

“I am honored that President Biden has shown the confidence in me to lead the agency at this critical moment in time,” Glick said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing working with my fellow commissioners and the exemplary FERC staff to pursue the commission’s important statutory missions.”

Glick has frequently delivered strongly worded dissents over orders by his Republican colleagues approving natural gas infrastructure without considering their downstream greenhouse gas emissions and what he argues as interfering with state resource mixes through RTO/ISO capacity market rules — positions he also explained at FERC’s open meetings.

Despite these strong disagreements, Glick has often said at public events that he gets along with his fellow commissioners and former Chair Neil Chatterjee. While Chatterjee tended not to respond to his comments at meetings, Glick found sparring partners in Danly and Commissioner Bernard McNamee.

Trump named Danly chair two days after the presidential election, demoting Chatterjee after the latter joined with Glick on Oct. 15 in supporting a proposed policy statement inviting states to introduce carbon pricing in wholesale electricity markets to address climate change. (See Trump Names Danly FERC Chair.)

Barring any resignations in the interim, Glick and Clements will remain in the minority until at least the end of June, when Chatterjee’s term ends, though it could last longer if Biden and the Senate do not immediately appoint a replacement. At the commission’s open meeting Tuesday, Danly’s last as chair, Glick praised both Chatterjee and Danly for their leadership. (See related story, FERC Ends Trump Era with a Busy Agenda.)

“As everyone who follows this commission knows, I’ve been a little critical at times over the last couple years for what I believe, at times, was a departure from the commission’s normal practice,” Glick said in closing remarks. “Instead of back-and-forth discussions and negotiations … the minority was presented with a take-it-or-leave-it offer on a number of orders. …

“But I want to say, first under the leadership of Chairman Chatterjee beginning this past summer, and then under Chairman Danly, there has been a noticeable shift in the approach, and I’m very appreciative for that. In my opinion, there has been far more opportunity discussion, negotiation and compromise.” He cited FERC Order 2222, which in September directed RTOs and ISOs to open their markets to distributed energy resource aggregations, as an example.

“I’m confident … this five-member commission will work well together to accomplish this commission’s important missions, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues,” he concluded.

Numerous energy trade associations, politicians and energy lawyers congratulated Glick on his promotion — and expressed their hope he would address their priorities.

“I have worked with Rich for many years, and I know he will lead FERC and serve the nation well as chairman,” said EEI Executive Vice President and former FERC Commissioner Phil Moeller. “We congratulate him and encourage the commission to address the many key issues impacting EEI member companies and our customers, including making necessary reforms in wholesale electricity markets; enabling the development of the transmission infrastructure needed to deliver more clean energy to customers; and continuing to focus on reliability and energy grid security.”

American Council on Renewable Energy CEO Gregory Wetstone said ACORE is “particularly hopeful that Chairman Glick will turn his strong condemnation of the minimum offer price rule in the PJM capacity market and the buyer-side mitigation measures currently imposed in NYISO into immediate action.”

“ACORE also looks forward to the commission beginning the process of replacing Order No. 1000 on transmission planning,” Wetstone added. “We also encourage the Commission to swiftly finalize its proposed policy statement on carbon pricing and expand and standardize hybrid resource integration across RTO/ISO markets.” (See Wide Support for FERC Carbon Pricing Statement.)

Glick “understands the need to retool and expand competitive wholesale power markets to align them with state and federal clean energy and climate policies, ensuring that they serve as a platform for a zero-carbon advanced energy future,” said Jeff Dennis, managing director and general counsel for Advanced Energy Economy. “We also look forward to Chairman Glick’s leadership in optimizing the transmission grid to deliver the cost-effective advanced energy resources that customers are demanding.”

Biden’s DOE Roster Fills out

Also on Thursday, the Department of Energy announced a slate of appointees to senior leadership positions.

Among them is Kelly Speakes-Backman as principal deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Speakes-Backman was the first CEO of the Energy Storage Association, whose board of directors immediately appointed Vice President of Policy Jason Burwen as interim CEO. Prior to ESA, Speakes-Backman served on the Maryland Public Service Commission.

Jennifer Wilcox will serve as principal deputy assistant secretary for fossil energy. Wilcox is the presidential distinguished professor of chemical engineering and energy policy at the University of Pennsylvania, where her research at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy focused on carbon management, capture and sequestration.

Avi Zevin, formerly a senior attorney and affiliated scholar at the New York University School of Law’s Institute for Policy Integrity, was appointed deputy general counsel for energy policy.

Biden, who is moving quickly to put his cabinet in place, has nominated former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as secretary of energy. The Senate ENR Committee on Thursday announced it will hold her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 27.