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President Trump has appointed James Danly as the new chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc / Getty Images
President Trump unexpectedly appointed staunch conservative James Danly as the new chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday night.
The move to demote current Chair Neil Chatterjee, a Republican and former McConnell energy advisor, was reportedly retribution for Chatterjee’s recent actions to address climate change and support clean energy, including leading a technical conference on implementing a carbon tax into wholesale electricity markets and an order allowing distributed energy resources like small solar and battery installations to enter markets.
Chatterjee also opposed a proposal by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry to subsidize struggling coal and nuclear plants. If elected, Democratic nominee Joe Biden could replace Danly as FERC chair without Senate approval.
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