FERC Commissioner Willie Phillips, a Democrat who was appointed as Commissioner under the Biden administration in 2021 and as Chair in 2023, is stepping down, effective immediately, after being requested to do so by the White House, POLITICO reports.
The request wasn’t quite a shock to Phillips, who may have already seen blood in the water following the start of Trump’s second term. On the campaign trail, President Trump railed against clean energy policies enacted under the Biden-Harris administration, vowed to throttle offshore wind development “on day one” and end the “Green New Scam.”
“I heard from the White House, and they expressed their interest that I step aside,” Phillips said to POLITICO. “It’s something that’s not a surprise to me. In fact, I had already planned to do so.”
With Phillips’ departure, Democrats lose their majority in FERC, resulting in a 2-2 split on party lines. However, President Trump’s choice for replacement will almost certainly swing that balance back in favor of Republicans.
Phillips did not offer any explanation to why he was asked to step down, and neither has the White House as of Tuesday afternoon.
FERC, which is led by commissioners who are nominated by the president, plays an outsized role in charting the direction of the energy industry and its pursuit of what remains of the nation’s climate goals.
In 2023, FERC tackled the country’s slow and backlogged interconnection queues with Order 2023. In May, FERC released Orders 1920 and 1977 in what Phillips called a “watershed” moment for the U.S. energy system. The orders require proactive regional transmission planning and a permitting backstop, respectively, to address the nation’s woefully inadequate transmission supply. Utilities will submit compliance filings over the coming months as FERC works toward implementation.
