U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today issued the following statement after President Trump sent two nominations for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to the Senate: Neil Chatterjee, a senior energy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Robert Powelson, a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. 

“I welcome the president’s announcement of two well-qualified nominees and look forward to restoring FERC’s quorum as soon as possible,” Murkowski said. “Neil will bring expertise and an ability to work with diverse groups of decision makers, while Rob has cultivated a reputation as a leader on the utility commission of a major energy producing and consuming state. We will announce a hearing to review their nominations as soon as we receive all relevant paperwork, and seek to confirm them as expeditiously as possible.”                                                                                                     
FERC is an independent commission that regulates interstate transmission and licenses hydropower projects. It is also responsible for approving LNG terminals and natural gas pipelines. With Norman Bay’s unexpected resignation in early February, and the previous administration’s failure to nominate anyone for the two Republican seats vacated in 2015 and 2016, FERC is now left with just two commissioners, acting Chairman Cheryl LaFleur and Commissioner Colette Honorable. Commissioner Honorable, whose term expires on June 30, 2017, recently announced that she will not seek re-nomination.