Rob Portman: “I rise in support of the nomination of Cheryl LaFleur to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory…”

“I rise in support of the nomination of Cheryl LaFleur to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and in opposition to the nomination of Norman Bay to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. On May 20, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, of which I am a member, held a hearing on these two nominations. I had questions regarding Mr. Bay's qualifications prior to that hearing, and they were not allayed. If anything, they were reinforced. Mr. Bay's experience in the energy field consists of his service over the past 5 years as Director of the Office of Enforcement at the FERC, a tenure which has been marked by that office's controversial theories of market manipulation and concerns by long-time industry experts about due process. Mr. Bay has 5 years of enforcement experience, but he has no regulatory experience. By contrast, Commissioner LaFleur, currently serving as the Acting Chairman of the FERC, has 5 years of experience on the FERC and decades of experience in the energy sector, including as a State utility commissioner. Yet we are being asked to demote Commissioner LaFleur to commissioner and replace her with an unproven and arguably less qualified candidate. But most important from my perspective is whether a nominee will address the key responsibilities assigned to the agency to which he or she is being nominated.…”