One of the newest commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hopes the agency would quicken the permitting process for the energy infrastructure projects across the U.S.

The FERC is responsible for interstate and international energy regulation to approve or reject the permits for projects, such as LNG liquefaction plants or interstate pipelines, to be developed. The agency’s permitting process is criticized by many in the industry for being too slow and complicated.

Rosner
FERC Commissioner David Rosner. (Source: FERC)

The FERC is one of the fastest federal agencies at processing permits, said FERC Commissioner David Rosner at Gastech Houston 2024. However, he said the commission is aware that the permitting process is too slow overall.

"Yeah, it's a huge problem, but we know how to do this, we've done it before. Permits, the time involved, it's a problem,” Rosner said.

Rosner is one of three new members now serving on the five-commissioner regulatory agency.

Rosner did not discuss any specific projects but did say he understood the difficulty of balancing out the needs of customers, producers and environmental regulations.

“When I look at these questions, I think, what do we need to do to make these things a reality, while balancing all the things that the statute asks us to balance, while also making sure that consumers have access to electricity? Affordable electricity, cleaner electricity,” he said.

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