FERC Chair Calls for New Federal Gas Regulator Amid Energy Outages and Reliability Concerns in U.S.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair, Willie Phillips, has urged Congress to create a new federal gas regulator after recent storms caused widespread energy outages across the U.S. and Texas. Speaking at the Energy Summit, Phillips, a Democrat, said that the relationship between gas and electricity is becoming increasingly intertwined and that the commission may propose action to address gas reliability problems. He also suggested that a new regulator could take over the reliability of the electric system from a separate entity responsible for electricity reliability. The Biden administration aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector to nearly zero by 2035 by 2030.