As part of the changing of the guard that always accompanies a new Presidential administration, the FERC’s chairmanship was switched.  The previous chairman was Norman Bay, and the new one is Cherly LaFleur.

Chairmen are also commission members, and remain on the commission both before and after serving as the chairman.

When the change in chairmanship was announced, Mr. Bay decided to resign from the commission.

That wouldn’t usually be a big deal.  However, the FERC has five seats on its commission, and two were already vacant.

Mr. Bay resigning from the FERC left only two voting members.

The commission needs three voting members in order to make decisions.

Therefore, the FERC can no longer approve natural gas pipeline projects, large natural gas company mergers, and liquefaction plant projects.

The speculation is that it will take at least a few months, maybe a year, to get a new member on the commission.

That could seriously slow down the approval process for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline.