Countering LaFleur, Chatterjee rejects notion of a partisan split at FERC

摘要

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee isonce again pushing back hard against the notion that partisanship iscoloring the agency’s work under his watch or that the White Houseexerts more influence than it once had.His comments follow a speech to the Energy Bar Association inwhich Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur lamented what she described asthe spread of political division to the independent agency. Shesuggested unusually high turnover and uptick in the number ofpartisan splits on votes have taken a toll at 888 First Street.“I wholeheartedly and respectfully disagree,” Chatterjee said in aninterview with S&P Global Platts. “I don’t believe that the agency isgoing through any kind of partisan period that’s different from what it’sgone through in the past.”To make his case, Chatterjee said he had staff quickly crunch thenumbers, comparing dissents and orders under his 11 months aschairman to the time period in which LaFleur led the agency.“In the 11 months I’ve been chair, [there were] more than 1,000orders, maybe 20 dissents. That’s a miniscule portion,” he said. DuringLaFleur’s period as chair, the number of orders vis-à-vis dissents is“almost identical,” he said.