Latest news with #DavidRosner
E&E News
2 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
White House: New FERC chair committed to Trump's energy agenda
Centrist Democrat David Rosner officially became chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday, the agency and the White House confirmed. Republican Chair Mark Christie resigned on Friday after President Donald Trump declined to reappoint him earlier this year. 'I am honored to serve as Chairman and excited to continue working with my colleagues on the Commission and FERC's extraordinary staff to enable reliable, affordable, and abundant energy for all Americans,' Rosner said in a statement. 'Energy lights our homes, powers our businesses, and we need it more than ever to grow the innovative industries of the future.' Advertisement The chair is responsible for the administrative operations of the agency, including supervising staff and setting the agenda. For the previous five days, the commission was without a chair, the first time since 1997 that the commission was without a leader for multiple days.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Trump names Rosner as chair of energy regulator
WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump named David Rosner as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where he has served since mid-2025 as a commissioner, the agency said on Wednesday. The appointment of Rosner, a Democrat, is expected to be temporary. Trump in June nominated to the commission two of his fellow Republicans who await Senate confirmation. FERC, which has a maximum of five members, regulates the power grid, liquefied natural gas projects and interstate transportation of oil and natural gas. It currently has three members, after Mark Christie, a Republican, left last week. In June, Trump nominated Laura Swett to take Christie's place and the president is expected to name her to become chair after the Senate confirms her. Trump also nominated David LeCerte then be a commissioner. If the two are confirmed by the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, FERC would then have a 3-2 Republican majority. Rosner, who has worked in energy in and out of government for two decades, said he was honored to be named. " Trump has said he wants to open pipelines to bring natural gas from Pennsylvania's vast gas fields to states in the Northeast. The projects have been opposed by states.
E&E News
4 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
What does Rosner as FERC chair say about Trump's plans for electricity?
Unanswered questions about President Donald Trump's energy plans have deepened with reports that he intends to name David Rosner, a centrist Democrat, to lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. No official announcement had been made as of Monday. But a White House official confirmed to POLITICO an earlier report that Rosner, who has served on the commission since last June, would be elevated to FERC chair — at least temporarily. Former Chair Mark Christie left the post on Friday. Trump has nominated energy attorney Laura Swett and White House adviser David LaCerte, both Republicans, to fill vacancies on the commission. But political observers speculated that the current long waiting times for Senate confirmation of a series of Trump nominees could have prompted the administration to make Rosner chair for now. Rosner is a veteran of energy policy and regulatory circles in Washington. Advertisement Grid analysts and lobbyists continue to expect that Rosner's tenure will last only until Swett can win Senate confirmation to join FERC, and that she will lead the commission during the balance of Trump's administration.
E&E News
4 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
David Rosner is set to lead FERC. Who is he?
President Donald Trump plans to elevate a Democratic member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to full chair as many continue to raise questions about the agency's independence. David Rosner — a centrist Democrat — will take over the position from former Chair Mark Christie, a Republican, who departed the agency on Friday after only six months as chair. The move was first reported by Axios and confirmed by POLITICO. The agency now sits at a 2-1 Democratic majority under Rosner, with Trump planning to fill the last two spots with Republican nominees: White House adviser David LaCerte and energy attorney Laura Swett. They still await Senate confirmation. Advertisement The appointments come as the agency faces unique challenges to address booming power demand from artificial intelligence data centers. The Trump administration has supported baseload generation sources, like fossil fuels and nuclear, to address such demand, while acting to marginalize more variable sources, like wind and solar. Rosner, who was confirmed to the agency in 2024 under President Joe Biden, has supported efforts to address the power demand issue by strengthening the reliability of the electric grid through an 'all-of-the-above' energy philosophy. He believes all kinds of energy generation and energy infrastructure, including expanded transmission planning and increased build-out of natural gas pipelines, should be utilized to address the issue. Before his tenure as commissioner, he was an energy analyst for the agency and later was hired by then-Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin ( Some environmental groups, like Friends of the Earth, criticized his support for natural gas at the time of his nomination, adding that such policies were not in line with the climate goals of the Biden administration. Rosner will also have to face growing concerns that the agency may be losing its regulatory independence under the Trump administration. Trump has signed executive orders seeking to bring FERC and other agencies overseeing big business under White House control, and pushed out Democratic former Chair Willie Phillips before the end of his tenure for reasons that remain unclear. Christie, for his part, had voiced support in principle for the administration's goals to increase energy supply while reiterating the necessity to adhere to the law. He acknowledged the growing concern over executive control across agencies in a recent interview with POLITICO's E&E News. 'If a chief executive can fire members of a commission, it's not independent,' Christie said. 'The ability to be fired is the dividing line.' Rosner's energy record Since joining the commission in June 2024, Rosner has steered his attention to the challenge of absorbing electricity demand from the tech industry's multi-gigawatt-size data centers. For FERC, questions came up about federal rules around co-locating power plants and data centers — a practice that would affect regional electric grids that serve big swaths of the country. 'We've got to figure out a way to unlock the efficiency of co-located load in generation,' Rosner said at a conference in November. And he's grown increasingly concerned about the wait time for electricity projects looking to tie into major regional grids. He's pushed for greater automation to speed the engineering process 'Getting grid interconnection moving faster is essential to ensuring reliability,' Rosner told POLITICO's E&E News in March. 'We're starting to learn about these new tools and platforms that just make this work faster, smarter, saves us time, solves the reliability and affordability problems that are facing the country.' Rosner has also supported efforts to ensure states aren't left on the sidelines during a period of rising energy demand. Rosner voted to boost the role of state regulators in planning major power grid expansions — an issue that head dogged Phillips. FERC's Order 1920, adopted with the support of only Democratic commissioners before Rosner joined the commission, requires that regional grid operators plan 20 years into the future for the high-voltage transmission needs. In addition, FERC directed that grid operators and states determine the allocation of costs for building long-distance lines. Critics, including Christie, felt that ratepayers could be saddled with the high costs of building transmission for the purpose of helping adjoining states meet renewable energy goals. 'We heard the states loud and clear, and we want to be responsive to them,' Rosner said at the time. Rosner has joined Christie to build on FERC's outreach to states by encouraging states in the West to collaborate on efforts to create organized electricity markets outside of California. Joel Kirkland contributed reporting.
Bloomberg
08-08-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump to Tap Biden Appointee to Lead US Agency Overseeing Natural Gas Exports
President Donald Trump is preparing to tap David Rosner to be chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees key decisions about natural gas export terminals and power lines. The move, described by a White House official who asked for anonymity before a formal announcement, would put a Democrat at the head of an agency central to Trump's plans to propel American oil, gas and coal.
