Projects on hold
Without a quorum, the FERC doesn’t work and American jobs are on the line.
One place we really don’t need to see a “Help Wanted” sign hanging in the window is at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Among FERC’s many duties is the task of approving pipeline construction projects that cross state lines. Without a green light from FERC, these projects don’t happen. But believe it or not, this five-member commission now has four vacancies, and the one lone commissioner still on the job can’t do much without a quorum.
As a result the fate of billions of dollars in pipeline projects is up in the air, along with the thousands of jobs that would be created if only we had a fully functioning FERC. It’s an exasperating example of what’s wrong with Washington, and Congress needs to fill the empty chairs on this commission fast.
As James Osborne recently reported from the Chronicle’s Washington bureau, a dozen pipeline projects worth an estimated $14 billion are awaiting FERC approval. Among them is the Nexus pipeline, a $2 billion joint venture between Houston’s Enbridge Energy and Detroit Edison. It’s scheduled to begin delivering natural gas from the Marcellus Shale to the Midwest and eastern Canada by the end of this year. But construction is expected to take as long as 10 months, so anxious executives are speaking out about this frustrating drag on the nation’s economy.
Meanwhile, a recent Bloomberg analysis found $38 billion worth of construction projects are working their way through an approval process that’s slow even when FERC is running on all cylinders. Another $25 billion worth of projects that just started the application process could be delayed if this mess continues into next year.
The trouble traces back to the final months of the Obama administration, when two commissioners resigned and left FERC with the minimum number of panelists needed for a quorum. After President Trump demoted the chairman, he quit rather than serve as a regular commissioner. Then a fourth commissioner stepped down when her term expired in June.
Five months after his inauguration, President Trump finally nominated two proposed commissioners. Neither of them has been brought up for a vote, because Democrats are waiting for the president to submit paperwork on a third nominee who’s a member of their own party. Trump named a fourth proposed FERC commissioner last week.
Although the president has finally gotten around to nominating people for this commission, the delays dogging FERC aren’t over. The Senate has held confirmation hearings for two of the nominees, but now it has to vet the two others. Assuming all four of these proposed commissioners are confirmed, they’ll have to tackle a backlog of applications that could postpone construction projects by months.
Now there’s a newly opened opportunity for action. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would delay the August recess by two weeks to give his party more time to work on health care reform. As long as they’re still in Washington, they need to work on FERC.
We urge U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to do whatever they can to expedite voting on the president’s FERC nominees before the August recess. With thousands of jobs on the line, American workers whose livelihoods depend on pipeline construction projects deserve nothing less from their government.
The fate of billions of dollars in pipeline projects is up in the air, along with the thousands of jobs that would be created if only we had a fully functioning FERC.