Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Willie Phillips is a Commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Former NARUC President Paul Kjellander, also former Idaho PUC President, is Senior Advisor at Public Utilities Fortnightly.
Commissioner Willie Phillips recently completed his first year serving on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, having been nominated by President Biden while Chair of the D.C. Public Service Commission. Of course, his resume in energy and utilities work goes back much further than that.
Commissioner Phillips is an experienced energy regulatory attorney of over twenty years, having worked in private practice and as Assistant General Counsel for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation or NERC. But anyone fortunate to know him, realizes the resume doesn't say enough.
PUF's Paul Kjellander, who as former NARUC President worked with then D.C. PSC Chair Phillips, also MACRUC President, on various NARUC committees, talked with FERC's Phillips about his first year in that new position. There is much more to take in here.
PUF's Paul Kjellander: You've finished your first year at FERC, so give your general impressions.
Commissioner Willie Phillips: I came to FERC in December 2021 and the world has changed in a significant way since then. There are a lot of things as I expected them to be. There's a lot of overlap between the mandates of a state level commission and a federal commission.