By Michael Brooks

James Danly attended his first FERC open meeting as a commissioner Thursday, albeit virtually, as the proceeding was held by teleconference because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Danly, who served as general counsel for the commission from September 2017 until March 31, did not issue any concurrences or dissents during the meeting, joining Chairman Neil Chatterjee in voting “aye” on the consent agenda. But he did give some insight into his priorities and regulatory philosophy during his opening remarks.

He listed “correctly incentivizing needed transmission,” ensuring electric reliability and “the efficient and thorough review of our certificate applications” as his top issues.

FERC General Counsel James Danly at his confirmation hearing in November 2019 | © RTO Insider

FERC’s approvals of gas infrastructure “have been challenged repeatedly with ever greater frequency in the courts, and we have a nearly unblemished affirmance rate for the last two and a half years,” he said. “That is a testament to the reasoned decision-making of the commission in issuing these orders and to the legal durability of the commission’s orders. … I am adamant that we continue to maintain those high standards in our certificate issuances.”

He also said he was “committed to further refining the pricings in our markets,” asserting that the commission’s rejection Thursday of rehearing requests on its order expanding the minimum offer price rule in PJM “marks an important step in ensuring accurate price signals in the capacity market. But I think there’s more to be done.” He said he was interested in looking at pricing in the energy markets, as well as “the price effects of the participation of non-energy-producing resources in the capacity market.” (See related story, FERC: RGGI, Voluntary RECs Exempt from MOPR.)

Danly concluded with his ideology. “We have to respect the federalist principles that are enshrined both in our authorizing statutes and the Constitution. You know, the commission is not in the business of — typically not in the business of pre-empting state actions. What we do is administer the matters in our jurisdiction, specifically the wholesale rates in interstate commerce. …

“We need to observe those lines of authority that Congress has laid out for us. And on that subject, I don’t think the commission should be quick to expand its jurisdiction. As tempting as it can be sometimes, Congress has laid those lines very scrupulously, and we should follow them scrupulously. …

“Reasoned decision-making is not simply a sine qua non. … It is what the entities who we regulate deserve. … I would like to see us dispense with as much case-by-case analysis as possible when unambiguous, bright-line rules are feasible.”

In his own opening remarks, Commissioner Richard Glick welcomed Danly and remarked on his impressive vocabulary, including his frequent usage of Latin terms. Because of that, he said, he had a Black’s Law dictionary on hand. At the end of the meeting, Glick explained that sine qua non meant “an indispensable requisite.”

Danly also announced the first two members of his staff, who followed him from the Office of General Counsel: Matthew Estes, a former colleague of his at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and Kyrstin Wallach, a 2017 graduate of the George Washington University Law School.