Law360 (February 20, 2025, 8:54 PM EST) — Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie downplayed concerns Thursday that a recent executive order from President Donald Trump will erode the agency’s authority, but acknowledged that it’s unclear how much the order seeks to involve the White House in FERC’s operations.
Neither Christie nor his fellow commissioners mentioned the executive order at FERC’s monthly open meeting, the first since Trump designated Christie, a Republican, as FERC chairman upon the president’s inauguration. But following the meeting, Christie was met with questions by reporters about Trump’s executive order issued Tuesday, which requires the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to review any major regulations that independent agencies issue and bars the agencies from taking legal positions that differ from the president and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The order appears to squarely implicate FERC, and the regulatory uncertainty it’s created has many in the energy industry on edge and has some agency watchers questioning whether the order can even be lawfully applied to FERC.
As far as Christie is concerned, the OMB portion of the order puts several past practices in one place. He said Thursday that it’s been long-standing FERC practice to send any major regulations to the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and FERC sends its budget and strategic plan to the OMB every year.
And FERC chairs have long consulted with the White House or other members of the executive branch, and have had the agency implement executive orders, Christie said.
“It’s fanciful to think that if a president can appoint a chair, the president is going to appoint a chair who’s going to do something 180 degrees opposite of what the general policy of the administration is,” Christie said Thursday. “It’s ludicrous to think that, and that has never been the case.”
Christie said that his priorities of ensuring reliable, cost-effective power and building out the needed infrastructure for that align with Trump’s policy preferences. And he said the administration is welcome to provide input on regulations that FERC is crafting, as long as it’s done on the record through the agency’s official rulemaking process.
Christie said he’s had introductory meetings with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, but didn’t discuss any specific policies or cases. He added that he’s not going to violate FERC’s rules on ex parte communications in his dealings with the administration, whether it’s officials privately asking him to take certain actions or discussing pending cases with him.
“That ain’t gonna happen on my watch,” Christie said.
However, Christie acknowledged that he’s unsure about whether the executive order means FERC must send draft rules to OIRA before commissioners have a chance to vote on them, and whether that could be construed as violating the agency’s ex parte rules.
“That’s the kind of detail I’ve got to get straightened out,” Christie said.
Christie also said it isn’t clear how the provision of the executive order that states that “the president and the attorney general’s opinions on questions of law are controlling on all employees in the conduct of their official duties” will apply to FERC.
FERC watchers told Law360 that provision could potentially ensnare hundreds of other contested matters commissioners vote on, including rate cases, tariff changes and infrastructure project approvals. Christie said he doubts that’s the intent of the order, but that FERC will seek additional guidance from the administration.
“I don’t think the DOJ wants 1,000 cases where they have to do a opinion in every [Federal Power Act Section] 205 or 206 case,” Christie said. “I don’t think they have the resources or the inclination to do that.”
Virtually all the contested matters that come before FERC are initiated by outside parties, be they utilities, pipeline companies or consumers, Christie said.
“I don’t think the industry wants any of those delayed, and we’re going to continue to act quickly and get those out,” Christie said. “At the end of the day, we follow the law.”
That doesn’t just mean FERC-applicable laws like Federal Power Act, Natural Gas Act and Department of Energy Organization Act, but more generally applicable laws including the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Sunshine Act, Christie said.
He pointed to a provision in the executive order that states it doesn’t “impair or otherwise affect … the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof.”
“By its own terms, with that kind of a savings clause … it does not affect our existing authority under all those statutes,” Christie said. “So I’m going to take it at its word.”
“We are independent in decision-making according to the terms of the DOE Organization Act,” Christie added. “That’s what we’re going to continue to follow.”
In an email exchange with Law360, FERC spokesperson Celeste Miller declined to say if Christie has concerns about the executive order potentially contravening statutory language in the DOE Organization Act, which bars the supervision of FERC personnel by other DOE staff and the review of agency actions by the energy secretary or any other DOE official. It also empowers the FERC chairman to designate lawyers to represent the agency in litigation over its decisions.
“The Chairman spoke at length about this Executive Order at today’s press conference,” Miller said. “There is nothing further to add at this time. As the Chairman indicated, we are reviewing the Executive Order now.”
Christie was also asked Thursday about other efforts by the Trump administration to reshape the executive branch, including the firing of thousands of probationary employees across federal agencies and the work of the non-Cabinet Department of Government Efficiency.
Christie said no FERC probationary employees have been terminated, and that the agency hasn’t been contacted by DOGE. He emphasized that FERC is deficit-neutral, and its operations are funded by fees charged to the industries it regulates.
“We’re very lean, and our money goes to the purpose of why we’re here, which is to administer the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act,” Christie said. “That’s what we do.”
–Additional reporting by Craig Clough. Editing by Alanna Weissman.