Statement From EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler Welcoming Willie Phillips as interim Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | January 3, 2023
Contact: Christina Nyquist | cnyquist@epsa.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The new head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) must support reliable power for Americans as the system faces mounting challenges, said President and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) Todd Snitchler following the designation of Willie Phillips as interim FERC Chairman, replacing outgoing Chairman Richard Glick.
Snitchler released the following statement:
“EPSA congratulates interim FERC Chairman Willie Phillips in his new role. This leadership transition takes place at a time of heightened scrutiny on the performance of America’s power system amid the continued push for lower-emitting energy sources and a rapidly evolving resource mix. While we recognize the need to address climate change, power outages and cost spikes have devastating consequences; reliability cannot be taken for granted in pursuit of aggressive policy aspirations not aligned with operational realities of the power system.
We called repeatedly on outgoing Chairman Glick during his tenure to advance sound policies that ensure access to reliable electricity. We now urge interim Chairman Phillips to renew a commitment to FERC’s core mission of ensuring adequate energy infrastructure, reliable power, and well-functioning competitive markets to deliver those outcomes in the most cost-effective way possible for consumers. We welcome the opportunity to support him and the agency in these endeavors.
As EPSA members deploy clean power solutions nationwide, the reality backed by expert analysis is that access to dispatchable resources like natural gas generation remains essential to keeping the lights on at an affordable cost to consumers for decades to come. This need is only heightened by efforts to decarbonize and electrify America’s economy, paired with the increase of intermittent resources.
We stand ready to work with Chairman Phillips to tackle the serious challenges at hand and embrace the potential of competitive power suppliers to deliver a reliable, affordable, and cleaner energy future.”
The Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) is the national trade association representing America’s competitive power suppliers. EPSA members provide about 150,000 MW of reliable and competitively priced electricity from environmentally responsible facilities using a diverse mix of fuels and technologies including natural gas, wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, storage, biomass, and coal. EPSA seeks to bring the benefits of competition to all power customers. Learn more at www.epsa.org and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter @EPSAnews.
