On January 3, 2023, the White House named Willie Phillips (D) as acting chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Phillips has been a FERC commissioner since December 2021.[1] Phillips is the first black person to lead FERC and the first former state utility regulator to lead the agency since Pat Wood III’s tenure ended in mid-2005. Phillips was chairman of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia before he joined FERC. He replaces Richard Glick (D), whose tenure ended at the end of 2022 after Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV) declined to hold a nomination hearing for his second term. As a result, FERC now has only four sitting commissioners, two Democratic commissioners, Allison Clements and Willie Phillips, and two Republicans, James Danly and Mark Christie. Commissioner Danly’s term will end on June 30, 2023.

[1] https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/president-biden-names-willie-phillips-acting-chairman