Kevin McIntyre, freshly sworn in as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has asked the Department of Energy (DOE) for a 30-day extension for the commission to act on the proposed Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule.

FERC is required to take final action on Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s September 28-issued notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) within 60 days following publication in the Federal Register, which occurred on October 10. Under that timetable, FERC’s vote on the rule would be required by Monday, December 11.

In a letter dated December 7—the same day McIntyre was sworn in as FERC’s chair to replace interim chair Neil Chatterjee—McIntyre said that FERC had received more than 1,500 solicited comments and reply comments on the controversial NOPR. FERC had also sworn in two new members within the last two weeks, returning to its full complement of five members on Thursday for the first time since October 2015, he noted.

FERC’s membership now includes three Republicans—McIntyre, Chatterjee, and Robert Powelson—and two Democrats, Cheryl LaFleur and Richard Glick.…

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