powelson

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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">legit ee</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no linx docs</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/powelson-gas/">
</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/powelson-gas/">http://www.energyandpolicy.org/powelson-gas/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson, reported to be one of President Trump’s nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, would enter the job with a track record that shows a cozy relationship with the natural gas industry, according to past public comments made by Powelson as well as emails obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson has been a commissioner on the Pennsylvania PUC since 2008, and became the president of the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners (NARUC) in 2017.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Numerous media outlets have reported that Powelson will be one of President Trump’s three picks to FERC, which is responsible for permitting oil and gas pipelines, overseeing environmental matters with respect to natural gas projects, and regulating and monitoring the country’s organized electric markets. The other names rumored to be Trump appointees are Neil Chatterjee, an aide to Mitch McConnell with a history of leading attacks on clean air protections, and Kevin McIntyre, an attorney who has represented fossil fuel and utility interests before FERC.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FERC commissioners are supposed to decide cases based on facts and data and without favor for any particular industry: the agency says it is “neutral as to fuel source.” Powelson’s record casts doubt on whether he would be able to meet that standard.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Statements reflect Powelson’s loyalty to gas producers</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson has not been shy about his support for gas production, or his antipathy for environmentalists concerned about the industry. At a meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regulated Utility Commissioners (MACRUC) last year, Powelson, speaking about gas pipelines that have become contentious due to protests, said:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Pennsylvania, as I said earlier – second largest natural gas production state now in the country. We’re producing about 3 BCF [billion cubic feet] a day and I think that’s a great story, but the reality is, and it’s a very big issue, is we’ve got to develop markets to get this gas to these load centers. And we don’t have an economy in Pennsylvania where we can use all of this.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson continued:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“For all my lacrosse moms who badger me about shale gas production and how environmentally unsafe it is and you’ve got all these people from Texas destroying the Pennsylvania environment and we don’t like that, and then you start talking to them with some good factual data and [they say] it’s not about the money: it’s about the money.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The comments are typical of Powelson’s rhetoric: pro-industry and dismissive of environmentalists’ concerns about gas development’s effects on the environment or the climate.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an email to the Energy and Policy Institute, Commissioner Powelson defended his record as balanced.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I believe that natural gas development has brought a great deal of positive benefits to utility customers, including lower prices and a cleaner way to generate electricity,” Powelson said. “However, the economic and environmental benefits are not the only parts of the equation when it comes to natural gas. Pipeline safety is an extremely important part of the conversation and one that I am very passionate about.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Natural gas emits less carbon when burnt than coal, which it has helped to displace in the electricity mix, but gas production results in leaks of the super greenhouse gas methane, negating some of those carbon gains. Environmental groups have reported that the current rush to gas by electric utilities is not compatible with the goals for greenhouse gas reductions that the U.S. set in the Paris Agreement.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson cited his support of a 2011 Pennsylvania law, the Gas and Hazardous Liquids Pipelines Act, which gave the Pennsylvania PUC the authority to enforce federal pipeline safety laws, and his support for the federal Safe Pipes Act, which President Obama signed last year. The Pennsylvania law covered 1,200 miles of pipelines in the state’s densely populated areas, but did not regulate 12,000 miles of rural pipelines.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson has reserved his most explosive language to describe pipeline protestors. Speaking in March at a gas industry conference, Powelson said that environmental advocates were on a “jihad” to keep natural gas from reaching markets while railing against activists who demonstrated outside the home of former FERC commissioner Tony Clark, accusing him of being a “rubber stamp” for the gas industry. (Clark went on to work for a firm that lobbies for gas companies and utilities after departing FERC, the latest in a parade of FERC commissioners and staff to leave their government job to take one in a regulated industry.)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Clean Air Council, a Philadelphia-based environmental non-profit, called for Powelson to resign after the “jihad” comment, and other groups accused him of bias toward the gas industry.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There’s a contempt we’ve seen from Commissioner Powelson that totally belittles the concerns of people in the community or who are advocates for clean air around gas issues,” Joe Minott, Clean Air Council’s executive director, told the Energy and Policy Institute. “And that to me suggests that he really should go work for the gas industry and not be a regulator. If as a regulator you have that much contempt for the legitimate concerns of residents and environmental advocates and healthcare professionals that you’re willing to refer to them as jihadists, it doesn’t suggest an open mind when it comes to regulating the industry.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson walked back his use of the word “jihad” publicly and in an email to the Energy and Policy Institute, while otherwise defending his comments:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As I have noted publicly, I recently made an inappropriate choice of words while characterizing the actions of a small group of individuals who engage in threatening and disruptive behavior,” Powelson said. “Unfortunately, this has distracted from a very real concern about threats aimed at shutting down public debate: interrupting public meetings, preventing officials from speaking, harassing federal and state regulators along with their families, and otherwise attempting to halt the public discussion about important infrastructure projects.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson’s support of the gas industry is not new. According to UtilityDive, he drove the 2009 passage of a NARUC resolution saying that states, and not the federal government, should regulate fracking. The resolution was a favor to natural gas drillers, and out of scope for NARUC, as utility commissioners do not regulate how gas is produced.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Emails show closeness with oil, gas lobbyists as NARUC president</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Emails between Powelson and natural gas and utility lobbyists, obtained via public records requests, show that Powelson has continued to expand his relationships with the oil and gas industry as NARUC’s president.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The day after the 2016 elections, Jack Gerard, chairman of the American Petroleum Institute, the behemoth oil and gas group, emailed Powelson to congratulate him on his recent ascension to president of NARUC and ask for a meeting:</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Page 102 of PA PUC FOIA DocumentCloud</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Page 102 of PA PUC FOIA</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contributed to DocumentCloud by Matt Kasper of Energy & Policy Institute • View document</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Anonymous hit counter for DocumentCloud</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson accepted the meeting with Gerard, and NARUC devoted much of its programming at its February 2017 meeting to the benefits of natural gas, including a chance for API to highlight a recent study touting the economic benefits – though none of the costs – of natural gas, which Gerard referenced in his email to Powelson. API was a “Leadership Sponsor” of the meeting, for which it paid $13,500, the most expensive sponsorship package available.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson defended NARUC’s programming in an email to the Energy and Policy Institute.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“NARUC fields many requests from a variety of groups to participate in our tri-annual meetings and we work to foster a broad discussion … We try to include a variety of perspectives in these panel discussions,” Powelson said.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A scan of the February meeting agenda shows that gas-related panels featured 29 speakers from the gas and utilities industries or related attorneys and consultants; 14 speakers came from governmental or other more neutral organizations; just two could be described as environmental advocates, and both worked for the Environmental Defense Fund.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A few weeks after Powelson’s email exchange with API, he received one from Kyle Rogers, a lobbyist who focuses on state regulators with the American Gas Association:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Page 93 of PA PUC FOIA</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson did indeed end up on the cover of the AGA magazine.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rob Powelson, Pennsylvania PUC Commissioner and possible FERC nominee, on the cover of the American Gas Association magazine</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rob Powelson, Pennsylvania PUC Commissioner and possible FERC nominee, on the cover of the American Gas Association magazine</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In November, Powelson received an invitation from Rogers to the AGA’s “Dance in the Desert,” a party that the trade group threw after one of the days of the NARUC conference in November, 2016, which was held in Palm Springs. The AGA regularly hosts parties at the NARUC conference.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Page 95 of PA PUC FOIA</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson’s aide wrote back to Rogers that Powelson, his wife, and eight of his staff would attend.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Page 96 of PA PUC FOIA</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The party, which was held at the Date Shed, a bar and lounge in Indio, CA, featured multiple open bars, catering offering short rib sliders, shrimp cocktails and ahi tuna mini tacos, and a rock band flown in from Atlanta. AGA hired a vendor to provide dealers and card tables for the commissioners, staff and lobbyists present to play casino games.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Commissioner Powelson told the Energy and Policy Institute that he did not attend the AGA party, despite his “Yes” RSVP, due to a scheduling conflict. He defended the RSVP, though, saying that it did not run afoul of the PUC’s Professional Ethics code which prohibits Commissioners and PUC staff from accepting gifts that would influence their decisions:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I abide by the PUC’s gift ban and I believe in the importance of policies such as these.  There are exceptions to the gift ban, such as the one that allows Commission employees to go to (and accept food and refreshment of nominal value from) widely attended gatherings; that is, gathering that are open to all persons interested or associated with the subject matter of the gathering.  I have participated in certain widely attended events that are permissible under the gift ban, but always with an eye to what is appropriate and acceptable in my role as a state Commissioner.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A PA PUC spokesperson added, upon being shown Powelson’s RSVP to the AGA party: “It is our understanding that AGA invites all NARUC participants to attend their event, making it a widely attended gathering.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The AGA party was not advertised nor accessible to the public. The AGA shuttled commissioners and lobbyists from the conference to the party on private buses, and the invite explicitly noted that it was not a part of NARUC formal programming. Registration for the NARUC event was $875, plus travel costs.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson on his and his peers’ regulatory independence</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In remarks at the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (SEARUC) in 2016, Powelson addressed controversies around utility commissioners’ relationships with the companies they regulate, and set the bar low for what constitutes avoiding conflicts of interest for a utility commissioner:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The last time I checked, not one of us owned stock in a public utility. Not one of us is out there serving on the corporate board of one of our public utilities.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A utility commissioner sitting on a utility’s board would be an egregious ethical breach. In the same speech, Powelson expressed outrage at criticism of commissioners’ integrity, while in the same breath thanking industry sponsors for rushing to commissioners’ defense:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I want to assure you these attacks are not going away. They’ve gotten visceral in nature, but I’m proud of NARUC, I’m proud of other associations in this room, some of them our sponsors, that are stepping up to say ‘these public utility commissioners are representing the public interests.’ [emphasis added].</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Gas Association and American Petroleum Institute sponsored the SEARUC meeting, among other industry groups.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The gas industry, for its part, seems pleased with its new potential federal regulator. One article from an industry news site which boosts gas drilling in Pennsylvania praised Powelson’s “jihad” comment as “so true.” In a subsequent piece, the news outlet wrote:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Lips are flapping around Washington and several names are being circulated as potential nominees. One of them REALLY excites us: Rob Powelson. … Wouldn’t it be terrific if this Marcellus-loving regulator were the third new FERC commissioner appointed by Trump?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div></div><div><p open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><div class="new-horizontal-social-bar clearfix" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); overflow: hidden; margin: 15px 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.7px;">https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/09/19/exclusive-here-are-energy-companies-and-utilities-represented-trump-s-nominee-head-ferc</span></font></div><div class="new-horizontal-social-bar clearfix" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); overflow: hidden; margin: 15px 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.7px;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/09/19/exclusive-here-are-energy-companies-and-utilities-represented-trump-s-nominee-head-ferc" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/09/19/exclusive-here-are-energy-companies-and-utilities-represented-trump-s-nominee-head-ferc</a></span></font></div><p open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="print-link" /></font></p><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="min-height: 280px;"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (<span class="caps">FERC</span>) has, as a corporate attorney, personally represented a host of energy and utility companies, many of which do business that is directly impacted by <span class="caps">FERC</span>’s decisionmaking. <b>According to Kevin McIntyre’s financial disclosure — <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4053537-Financial-Disclosures-FERC-Nominee-Kevin-McIntyre.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">obtained by DeSmog and published here for the first time</a> — these include major utilities, fracking companies, pipeline builders, and international energy corporations.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>McIntyre is a lawyer who <a href="http://www.jonesday.com/kjmcintyre/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">co-leads</a> the global energy practice for the legal and lobbying firm Jones Day, </b>and is currently awaiting final Senate confirmation of his appointment to the nation’s top energy regulatory body. That confirmation may come as soon as this week.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">McIntyre’s <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4053537-Financial-Disclosures-FERC-Nominee-Kevin-McIntyre.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">financial disclosure</a>, submitted recently to the Office of Government Ethics, reveals that in the past two years alone he has represented various energy and utility companies. Some of these companies are regulated by <span class="caps">FERC</span> or have projects seeking <span class="caps">FERC</span> approval.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The list includes the following entities:</font></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ameren.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Ameren Corporation</a>, a St. Louis, Missouri-based utility and power generation company. Ameren delivers electricity and distributes gas to over 1 million customers in Missouri and Illinois. The company owns several power-generating plants running on coal, gas, and oil. It also operates nuclear, hydroelectric, and renewable facilities.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.aep.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">American Electric Power Service Corporation (<span class="caps">AEP</span></a>), a large Columbus, Ohio-based electric utility supplying customers throughout the Midwest and Southwest <span class="caps">US</span>. The company owns about 60 power generating facilities, of which coal-fueled plants account for approximately 47 percent of <span class="caps">AEP</span>’s generating capacity, while natural gas represents 27 percent and nuclear 7 percent.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=32678822" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Lakeside Energy <span class="caps">LLC</span></a>, a Chicago-based energy holding firm that targets independent power generating and renewables industries.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.navajo-tec.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Navajo Transitional Energy Company</a>, a Farmington, New Mexico-based coal mining company owned by the Navajo Nation. The company supplies coal to the nearby Four Corners power plant.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.scana.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><span class="caps">SCANA</span> Corporation</a>, a Cayce, South Carolina-based energy holding company engaged primarily in electric and gas utility operations in the Carolinas and Georgia. The company also owns nuclear, hydroelectric, coal, and renewable power generating facilities.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://tecoenergy.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><span class="caps">TECO</span></a>, a Tampa-based electric and gas utility providing services to customers in Florida and New Mexico. <span class="caps">TECO</span> is a subsidirary of Canadian energy and services giant <a href="http://www.emera.com/en/home/default.aspx" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Emera</a>, which owns $29 billion in assets in North America and the Caribbean.                         </font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://traversemidstream.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Traverse Midstream Partners</a>, an Edmond, Oklahoma-based pipeline company with stakes in the Rover pipeline and Ohio River System pipeline. In both pipelines, Traverse partners with Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://ascentresources.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Ascent Resources</a>, an Oklahoma City-based oil and gas exploration and production company that focuses on fracking in the Utica and Marcellus shales in Ohio and West Virginia.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.enablemidstream.com/html/pages/p001-homepage.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Enable Midstream Partners</a>, an Oklahoma City-based oil and gas gathering, processing, and transmitting company with operations in Oklahoma and Arkansas. One of Enable’s current proposed pipeline projects, the Central Arkansas Pipeline Expansion (<span class="caps">CAPE</span>), will require <span class="caps">FERC</span> approval.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.edfenergyservices.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><span class="caps">EDF</span> Energy Services <span class="caps">LLC</span></a>, a Houston-based subsidiary of French utility <span class="caps">EDF</span>, the company provides electricity, natural gas products and services to large-scale, energy-intensive commercial and industrial consumers in the <span class="caps">US</span> and Canada.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.xintai-indonesia.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><span class="caps">PT</span>. Xintia Indonesia</a>, an Indonesian company providing drilling equipment and services to the oil and gas industry.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.socartrading.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><span class="caps">SOCAR</span> Trading S.A</a>., a Geneva Switzerland-based company which is the marketing and development subsidiary of <span class="caps">SOCAR</span>, the state oil company of Azerbaijan. <span class="caps">SOCAR</span> Trading markets the bulk of Azeri crude exports. </font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.totalpetrochemicalsrefiningusa.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Total Petrochemical <span class="amp">&</span> Refining <span class="caps">USA</span>, Inc</a>., a Houston-based subsidiary of French oil and gas major Total involved in the production of various petrochemical materials with facilities in Texas and Louisiana.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.iberdrolarenovablesmexico.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Iberdrola Renovables Mexico <span class="caps">S.A.</span> de C.V</a>., a Mexican subsidiary of Spanish electric utility giant Iberdrola, focusing on renewable energy investments in Mexico.</font></li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4053537-Financial-Disclosures-FERC-Nominee-Kevin-McIntyre.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><img alt="" src="https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20Shot%202017-09-18%20at%204.29.30%20PM.png" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: 778px; width: 840px;" /></a>
<em>Screenshot from <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4053537-Financial-Disclosures-FERC-Nominee-Kevin-McIntyre.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">McIntyre's financial disclosure</a>.</em></font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Concern Over Industry Ties</font></h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">After a number of resignations and term expirations, as of this past June the <span class="caps">FERC</span>'s bench had dwindled down to one single commissioner. The Trump administration has nominated four new candidates to restore the quorum needed for <span class="caps">FERC</span> to make key decisions.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industry representatives <a href="http://origin-nyi.thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/341979-trump-taps-industry-lawyer-to-lead-energy-commission" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">lauded the reestablishment</a> of a quorum on the commission, which can now approve the logjam of pending energy projects.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Critics, however, have sounded the alarm about some of the new appointees’ industry ties. Protesters with the group Beyond Extreme Energy had disrupted two Senate confirmation hearings in recent months.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">They’ve pointed out that the newest <span class="caps">FERC</span> appointees Neil Chatterjee and Rob Powelson have ties to fossil fuel companies and utilities.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> While Chatterjee previously worked as an energy policy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-</span><span class="caps" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">KY</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">), <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/powelson-gas/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Powelson developed a close relationship</a> with the industry as a state utilities regulator.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As DeSmog recently reported, <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/08/15/trump-ferc-commissioner-rob-powelson-accepted-gifts-energy-industry-state-regulator" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Powelson received gifts from industry</a> in his previous regulatory position.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kevin McIntyre’s financial disclosure adds fuel to these concerns. McIntyre did not respond to a request for comment.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program at the government watchdog group <b>Public Citizen, </b>says the disclosure is cause for further concern. “I do think <span class="caps">FERC</span> has had problems of not accommodating the public interest as much as is spelled out in its statutory requirements,” Slocum says. “And McIntyre's list of clients does not appear to include public interest clients, whereas today there is much opportunity for lawyers to represents such clients as well.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Slocum adds that as co-lead of Jones Day's energy practice, McIntyre is probably privy to other kinds of key information about energy clients, beyond those entities listed as the ones he personally represented at the firm. </font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This complicates the question of potential conflicts beyond the list he provided in the disclosure since there's uncertainty as to that kind of information he may hold,” Slocum says.</font></p></div></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/02/15/powelson-ferc-commissioner-calendar-fossil-fuel-industry">https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/02/15/powelson-ferc-commissioner-calendar-fossil-fuel-industry</a></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In his first few months at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (<span class="caps">FERC</span>), commissioner Rob Powelson scheduled the great majority of his meetings with fossil fuel energy companies and utilities,</b> his work calendar shows. The calendar, obtained by DeSmog through an open records request, can be viewed below.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nominated to <span class="caps">FERC</span> by President Trump, Powelson began serving on the commission last August. He previously served on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A review of his <span class="caps">FERC</span> calendar shows that between September 4 and December 10 2017, Powelson had a total 76 work meetings scheduled with various stakeholders. Of those meetings, 62 (82 percent) were with fossil fuel and pipeline companies, utilities, and trade groups predominantly representing those industries. The remaining 14 meetings were with regional transmission organizations (<span class="caps">RTO</span>s), government agencies, public utilities, and renewable energy companies and their trade groups.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to his calendar, Powelson did not have scheduled meetings with representatives of other stakeholders potentially affected by <span class="caps">FERC</span>’s decisions, such as environmental organizations, public interest groups, and everyday citizens.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[docs]</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From the calendar, meetings with major fossil fuel companies and utilities include:</font></p><ul style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 6: Williams Companies, Talen Energy, Tellurian/Driftwood <span class="caps">LNG</span></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 12: Jordan Cove <span class="caps">LNG</span></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 21: Exelon, <span class="caps">PG&E</span></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 26: Colonial Pipeline Company, Excel Energy</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 3: Invenergy, NextEra</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 12: TransCanada, Southern California Edison, Eversource</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 18: <span class="caps">NRG</span></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 19: Convata Energy, Southwestern Energy</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 23: New Jersey Resources, <span class="caps">LS</span> Power</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 24: Calpine Corporation</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 25: Avangrid</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 7: Shell Pipeline Company</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 30: Con Edison</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">December 5: <span class="caps">LNG</span> Limited</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">December 7: Public Service Enterprise Group (<span class="caps">PSEG</span>)</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These are all <span class="caps">FERC</span>-regulated entities, several of which currently have projects pending the commission’s approval. For example, when New Jersey Resources met with Powelson, it was seeking <span class="caps">FERC</span>’s authorization for the PennEast pipeline, of which the company owns a 20 percent stake. <span class="caps">FERC</span> went on to approve the controversial 115-mile gas pipeline in January this year.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson also met with FirstEnergy, a coal-based utility which at the time was trying to convince <span class="caps">FERC</span> to adopt Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s industry-led proposal to support coal and nuclear power plants. <span class="caps">FERC</span> has since objected to the plan.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In addition, one of the only projects <span class="caps">FERC</span> has rejected is Oregon’s Jordan Cove <span class="caps">LNG</span> (liquefied natural gas) export terminal and Pacific Connector gas pipeline. However, after the <span class="caps">CEO</span> of the company behind Jordan Cove met with the Trump administration in early 2017, the project was resurrected,</b> <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/05/13/jordan-cove-lng-huge-money-sway-oregon-coos-county-election" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">despite local and state resistance</a>. Powelson met with Jordan Cove on September 12 and roughly a week later, on September 21, the <a href="http://jordancovelng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Jordan-Cove-FERC-App-Final-2017-09-21.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">company announced</a> it was filing new <span class="caps">FERC</span> applications for the export terminal and pipeline.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The commissioner’s calendar also shows meetings scheduled with a number of industry and utilities trade groups, including:</font></p><ul style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 21: Electric Power Supply Association</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 26: <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/edison-electric-institute" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Edison Electric Institute </a> </font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 27 and December 4: Natural Gas Supply Association</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 5: Utilities Technology Association, Advanced Energy Management Alliance</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 19: New England Power Generators Association</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 24: Association of Oil Pipelines</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 26: American Forest <span class="amp">&</span> Paper Association</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 30: Retail Energy Supply Association</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 1: Energy Storage Association</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 6: Americans for a Clean Energy Grid</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">December 5: Process Gas Consumers Group</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">December 7: Nuclear Energy Institute</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Additionally, during this period, Powelson had 20 scheduled one-on-one meetings and lunches (excluding those with <span class="caps">FERC</span>personnel). Of these, 13 meetings were with fossil fuel company representatives and lobbyists. They include:</font></p><ul style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 18: <a href="http://www.api.org/about/marty-durbin" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Marty Durbin</a>, executive vice president at the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-petroleum-institute" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Petroleum Institute</a>. Durbin is <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=BCE4DED5-A3AE-4A66-8BA0-5D52B9C171C3&filingTypeID=69" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lobbying</a> <span class="caps">FERC</span> on a slew of energy-related issues, including legislation for infrastructure projects.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 18: Lunch with <a href="http://www.blankromegr.com/index.cfm?contentID=10&bioID=471" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Mike Krancer</a>, former head of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection who is currently a lobbyist with Blank Rome <span class="caps">LLP</span> and his own lobbying shop, Silent Majority Strategies</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 26: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-sunday-59937622/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Kevin Sunday</a>, lobbyist for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 2: <a href="https://www.gtlaw.com/en/professionals/s/silverstein-hon-martin-j" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Martin Silverstein</a>, attorney for the legal and lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 10: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-hayes-93a6968/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Colin Hayes</a>, until recently staff director for the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources who co-founded his own lobbying shop, Lot Sixteen, which lobbies for <span class="caps">NRG</span>.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 18 and November 6: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-mcginn-9648b15/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Joe McGinn</a>, former lobbyist with Energy Transfer Partners who recently opened his own lobbying company, McGinn Public Strategies</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 25: <a href="https://www.pseg.com/info/media/newsreleases/2016/2016-10-20.jsp#.WoTIZWaZOt8" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Larry Gasteiger</a>, a former <span class="caps">FERC</span> official who is now director of federal regulatory policy at <span class="caps">PSEG</span></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 16: Lunch with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-lynch-5748b214/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">David Lynch</a>, lobbyist for the Texas-based utility Energy Future Holdings</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 29: <a href="https://www.acg-consultants.com/david-urban/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">David Urban</a>, a senior operative during the Trump presidential campaign and a lobbyist for American Continental Group. Urban <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=E289861F-D696-4F69-A3CD-E9C80D57EA3D&filingTypeID=70" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lobbies</a> for <span class="caps">CONSOL</span> Energy.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">December 4: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-kupfer-18150211/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Jeffrey Kupfer</a>, former Chevron executive and current director for Atlas Energy     </font></li></ul><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The other seven one-one-one meetings were with state utility commissioners, former <span class="caps">RTO</span> chiefs, an academic, and members of congress or their staff.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson’s calendar also displayed several scheduled industry conferences and events, including:</font></p><ul style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 13: The Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce event at the Washington, <span class="caps">D.C.</span> restaurant Bullfeathers</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 3: Filming a video for the Midstream <span class="caps">PA</span> oil and gas conference</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 26: American Gas Association’s annual Energy Market Regulation Conference in Washington, <span class="caps">D.C.</span></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">October 31: The Communications and Energy Committee of the Southern New Jersey’s Chamber of Commerce event at the Westin Mount Laurel Hotel</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 2: Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry event at the Longwood Gardens in Kenneth Square, Pennsylvania</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 4: Edison Electric Institute’s Financial Conference in the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort near Orlando, Florida</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 7: Speaking at the Industrial Energy Consumers of America meeting at the Le Méridien Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The <span class="caps">IECA</span> is a fossil fuel advocacy group run by the energy lobbying company Carbonleaf <span class="caps">LLC</span>  </font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 9: Speaking at the Blank Rome <span class="caps">LLP</span> conference in Pittsburgh</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 15: Speaking at the Association of Oil Pipelines meetings at the Madison Hilton in Washington, <span class="caps">D.C.</span></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 20: Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce event</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">December 1: The Pennsylvania Society’s Blank Rome <span class="caps">LLP</span>/<span class="caps">GT</span> Power Energy Summit in New York City</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">December 6: Southern Company’s Holiday Reception in Union Station in Washington. A <span class="caps">FERC</span> spokesperson said Commissioner Powelson did not attend this event. Southern Company did not provide comment.              </font></li></ul><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeSmog asked <span class="caps">FERC</span> why Commissioner Powelson does not balance his meetings to include a greater variety of stakeholders affected by <span class="caps">FERC</span>’s decisions. Craig Cano, a spokesperson for the commission, said: “Commissioner Powelson’s office takes meetings with anyone who requests them, subject to availability and ex parte concerns.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powelson also had a <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/powelson-gas/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">cozy relationship</a> with the energy industry during his days at the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission. As DeSmog previously reported, this included <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/08/15/trump-ferc-commissioner-rob-powelson-accepted-gifts-energy-industry-state-regulator" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">receiving from <span class="caps">NRG</span> two tickets</a> to an <span class="caps">NFL</span> game.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet calendars for other past and present <span class="caps">FERC</span> commissioners show that Powelson is certainly not alone in taking a majority of meetings with the industry he regulates. As <a href="https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/12/14/stories/1060069033" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="caps">E&E</span> News recently reported</a>, commissioner Neil Chatterjee’s work calendar reveals a similar trend.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Environmental organizations opposing the extensive oil and gas pipeline buildup around the country have in recent years targeted <span class="caps">FERC</span> for what they see as a clear industry bias within the agency. Activists, who call for reforming <span class="caps">FERC</span>, point out that in its 40 years of existence, <span class="caps">FERC</span> has rejected <a href="http://www.analysisgroup.com/uploadedfiles/content/insights/publishing/ag_ferc_natural_gas_pipeline_certification.pdf" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">only two projects</a> while approving countless others.   </font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div>