[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 99 (Wednesday, June 12, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4031]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            FERC Nominations

  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I spoke at some length about the 
important work of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission yesterday. I 
spoke also about the statutory requirement that the Commission members 
be able ``to assess fairly the needs and concerns of all interest 
affected by Federal energy policy.''
  I believe that is why an earlier Congress, when it created the 
Department of Energy in 1977 and concentrated most energy functions in 
the hands of the Secretary of Energy, insisted on maintaining a 
separate, independent, five-member collegial body for electric and 
natural gas regulation.
  When it comes to fairly assessing all interests, five heads are 
better than one. Bringing together five different people with five 
different life experiences and perspectives helps ensure that all 
affected interests will be heard and fairly considered and assessed.
  David Rosner, Lindsay See, and Judy Chang are very different people 
from very different backgrounds. What matters most is their willingness 
to work with one another, to consider and assess fairly different 
interests and points of view, and to put partisan passions aside in 
favor of the public interest.
  After meeting all three and listening to them testify and watching 
them respond to Senators' questions, I am convinced that all three are 
willing and able to work with each other and with Chairman Phillips and 
Commissioner Christie on the Commission to ensure energy reliability 
and affordability for American consumers.
  Lindsay See is currently the solicitor general of West Virginia, a 
post she has held for the past 6 years. In that role, she represents my 
State's legal interests in both State and Federal courts, including 
before the U.S. Supreme Court.
  As Lindsay explained in her testimony before our committee, ``energy-
adjacent matters are front-and-center'' for West Virginia's solicitor 
general, and she has worked on ``dozens of cases and rulemakings'' 
which demonstrated ``that grid reliability, regulatory certainty, and 
affordable energy are essentials.''
  Prior to her appointment as solicitor general, she served as a 
special assistant in the West Virginia Attorney General's Office for 2 
years. Before that, she practiced appellate and administrative law for 
5 years at a law firm here in Washington, DC. After graduating from 
Harvard Law School, she clerked for Judge Thomas Griffith on the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  She is plainly a very capable and experienced lawyer and well 
qualified to serve on the Commission.
  Judy Chang is an energy economics and policy expert with more than 20 
years of experience working with energy companies, trade associations, 
and governments on regulatory and financial issues as they relate to 
investment decisions in energy generation, transmission, and storage.
  She served as the under secretary of Energy and Climate Solutions, 
under Governor Charles Baker from Massachusetts, where she helped 
develop Massachusetts' Clean Energy and Climate Plan.
  I can think of no better preparation for serving on a bipartisan 
commission than working for a Republican administration in a very, very 
blue State.
  Judy also has been an adjunct lecturer in public policy at the 
Harvard Kennedy School and a senior fellow at the Kennedy School's 
center for business and government.
  She holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and 
computer science from the University of California at Davis and a 
master of public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
  Energy reliability and affordability is perhaps more personal to Judy 
than most of us. In her testimony before our committee, Judy explained 
that when she was growing up in Taiwan, power outages were a daily 
event. She said that ``from a young age, my parents instilled in me the 
principle that no resource should ever be wasted, working hard to save 
every penny . . . `'
  We will all be served well by having that perspective on the 
Commission.
  We have three extremely qualified, capable, honorable people who are 
willing to serve our great country. That makes up a five-member FERC. I 
can tell you, as they have said and as I have said, five heads--good 
heads--are better than one. So I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting both Lindsay See's and Judy Chang's nominations today.