With less than a year under his belt, Robert Powelson said Thursday he would step down from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in mid-August to take the helm at the National Association of Water Companies. His tenure would be the shortest in the history of FERC.
"I express my gratitude to President Trump for nominating me and to the members of the United States Senate who confirmed me. I thank my colleagues for their steadfast commitment to FERC's mission, members of the public who help inform our decisions, and the staff at FERC for their dedication and support throughout my time at the commission, especially the members of my office," Powelson said in a brief statement announcing his exit.
The outspoken Republican commissioner was confirmed by the Senate August 4 and sworn in August 10, bringing the commission to the three members needed to officially restore its quorum to perform its full range of business.
Since taking his seat on the panel, Powelson has been a proponent of natural gas infrastructure development and staunch supporter of the wholesale competitive power markets. These views have at times put him at odds with the Trump administration's effort to aid struggling coal and nuclear power plants, as he infamously stated in October: "I did not sign up to go blow up the markets."
Just Wednesday, he questioned whether a recent approach floated was too narrowly focused on one region and could be "ganging up" on PJM Interconnection "for no apparent reason."
Asked if his early departure from the commission was in any way related to his apparent discomfort with Department of Energy initiatives to support coal and nuclear power plants, Powelson insisted that he simply was responding to an "incredible opportunity" to head up the water association. "As you know, I chaired the [National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners] Water Committee for three years and have worked very hard with the water industry on promoting water-quality issues, progressive ratemaking tools, infrastructure replacement and being an active voice for municipal system consolidations. The NAWC has a rich tradition working with state and federal officials and I'm stoked to hit the ground the running," he said in an email to S&P Global Platts Thursday.
His departure leaves more opportunity for the commission to be split 2-2 on some issues, such as gas pipeline approvals, or further DOE proposals to help coal and nuclear generation, should those make their way to FERC.
Prior to joining FERC, Powelson was a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, where he served since 2008 and held the post of chairman from 2011 to 2015. He is also a past president of NARUC.
In addition to his PUC duties, Powelson served on Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission in 2011. As part of his NARUC involvement, he focused on critical infrastructure, nuclear waste and pipeline safety.
