President Donald Trump has named David Rosner as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency announced on Aug. 13.
Rosner was already serving as interim chair at the federal energy regulator since Aug. 8 after Chairman Mark C. Christie, 72, a first-term Trump appointee, resigned following June comments from Trump that he would not renominate Christie and would instead nominate Washington energy attorney Laura Swett to the position.
Swett and another Trump nominee, White House adviser David LaCerte, are still awaiting their confirmation by the Senate before they can start work at the commission. Their confirmations would give the commission a 3–2 Republican majority.
A Democrat and Biden appointee, Rosner will chair what is currently a three-member panel, alongside Republican Biden appointee Commissioner Lindsay S. See and Democrat Biden appointee Commissioner Judy W. Chang. Another commissioner, Willie Phillips, who served as chairman under the Biden administration, resigned on April 21.
“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.”
The FERC is a committee of up to five members that has been tasked by federal statute, since its establishment in 1977, with the core mandate of ensuring reliable, safe, secure, and economically efficient energy and transmission infrastructure for all Americans. It has power over the regulation of the power grid, liquefied natural gas projects, and interstate transportation of oil and natural gas.
Members are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve often staggered five-year terms. Congressional oversight and the rule that no more than three members at a time may belong to the same political party act to ensure bipartisan representation at the federal regulator. Each commissioner has an equal vote on regulatory matters.
Rosner has served on the commission since mid-2024, taking over the seat left by his predecessor, Democratic Trump appointee Allison Clements. He has worked in the industry for nearly two decades, both in the private and public sectors. He holds master’s degrees in economics and public policy from American University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Tufts University, according to the FERC. The term for his seat on the commission expires on June 30, 2027.
His appointment as chair is likely temporary until Trump can name Swett as chair after the Senate acts to progress through the long list of Trump nominees still awaiting the confirmation process.
Trump has said that 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.
Days before he finished as chairman, Christie told S&P Global Commodity Insights that the most pressing issue America faces in securing cheap and stable power is the “insiders” game being played in federal energy regulation, amid concerns about agencies losing their independence as Trump works to push his executive agenda through the federal government.
Christie said the FERC needed to include a consumer advocate, like state utility regulatory agencies, at the table to represent the interests of everyday Americans.
“The problem of regulatory capture is real, and it has nothing to do with this administration. It is endemic to FERC,” he said. “It’s just the nature of what we do here is that the interest groups that have money at stake are going to buy the resources, and usually legal resources, to try to work the system, to try to get the best outcome.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
