Powelson to take seat on federal energy board Monday
Kennett Square resident trading in Harrisburg for Washington to sit on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Rob Powelson is used to work by train.
He has been doing it for nine years as a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission – driving from his home in Kennett Square to Parkesburg, where he takes the train to Harrisburg.
Now, with his appointment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, Powelson will have a shorter drive to the Wilmington Train Station, and then head south to Washington, D.C.
“A modern-day Joe Biden,” Powelson observed with a laugh Tuesday, a reference to the former vice president and senator who was known for his commutes from Delaware to Washington on an Amtrak train.
There will be plenty to do when he gets to the politically divided capital city; FERC has been without to commuting a quorum since February, and energy development is a top priority of the Trump administration. The agency hasn’t convened a public meeting since before President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January.
With the appointment of Powelson and Senate aide Neil Chatterjee of Kentucky, the five-person commission has enough members to begin voting again.
Two other Trump nominees are expected to receive their confirmation hearings in September. By the end of September, the commission should be back to full strength, Powelson said in a phone conversation Tuesday.
“I start on Monday,” he said. “There are $80 billion of projects that need to be reviewed. The agency basically grounded to a halt.”
Powelson’s nomination was approved by committee members 20-3 following his confirmation hearing in May. He said he will be asked to regulate many of the same types of industries at FERC as he did at the Pennsylvania PUC, although the projects are on a much grander scale.
Interstate pipelines, liquified natural gas exports, the electric grid, hydro plant re-licensing and the wholesale gas and power markets are among the projects FERC reviews and approves.
More than a dozen major projects and utility mergers have been in regulatory limbo for months as the chairs sat vacant at FERC. The projects include the $2 billion Nexus pipeline in Ohio and Michigan; the $1 billion PennEast pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, the Associated Press recently reported.
“With a quorum restored, our first order of business is the backlog of orders and issues that are awaiting commission consideration,” said Cheryl LaFleur, the acting chairwoman of FERC, after last week’s confirmation votes.
In addition to working through the backlog, Powelson said one of his more pressing responsibilities will be to develop policies that prevent cyber-hacking of the nation’s energy grid.
“It’s an issue that we’re facing in all aspects of the economy,” he said.
Powelson 48, the former president of the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry, took his seat on the state PUC in 2008, following a nomination by Gov. Edward G. Rendell. He was appointed to a second PUC term by Gov. Tom Corbett and served as chairman of the commission from 2011 through 2015. He now serves under Gov. Tom Wolf.
Additionally, Powelson was elected in 2016 as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or NARUC, and he also serves on the Electric Power Research Institute Advisory Board, or EPRI, and the Drexel University Board of Trustees.
The PUC was “cherished time,” Powelson said. “I look back on it and believe I made a huge difference.”
The state agency is recognized nationwide for innovative programs and increasing its diversity, he said
Powelson said the PUC played a large role in bringing Uber to Pennsylvania, where the company is now testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh.
Asked about the recent controversy surrounding natural gas drilling and the Sunoco pipelines, Powelson said some members of the public don’t realize the work that has gone into making sure the energy is being safely developed. Powelson said he served on committees in both the Corbett and Wolf administrations that addressed those issues.
“It’s being done with a commitment to safety,” said Powelson, adding, “resources have got to get to market.”