He Sees Bipartisan Pro-Energy Solutions That He Is Well Positioned to Advance
By Gary E. Guy and David Martin Connelly
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A few Members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission worked at the agency before becoming a Commissioner: James Hoecker, Norman Bay, Mark Christie – and David Rosner. Elizabeth Mohler and Richard Glick were on the Staff of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – as again was David Rosner. Given his many faceted energy background grappling with energy technologies, market design and energy policy, your faithful EBA reporting team Gary E. Guy and David Martin Connelly (aka “Hugh Downs and David Garroway”) were especially thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with him for the better part of an hour on a July afternoon in his office.
Well Steeped in Energy Affairs from Numerous Perspectives
Commissioner Rosner put his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics, at Tufts and American Universities, respectively, to good use in the energy field for over 15 years prior to his elevation as a FERC Commissioner. Yes, the same FERC where, as an energy industry analyst, he led efforts related to rulemakings on energy storage resources, electric transmission, offshore wind integration, fuel security, and natural gas-electric coordination. (And he attended EBA conferences as a FERC Staffer to learn about various aspects of the energy field from divergent points of view.) Then, he embarked on a two-year detail at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Democratic Staff. He was also a Senior Policy Advisor at the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis and an Associate Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s energy project. Nominated by President Biden and confirmed by a bipartisan majority in the U.S. Senate, he was sworn into office on June 17, 2024, for a term that ends on June 30, 2027.
Commissioner Rosner’s Goals and Priorities
Given this wealth of experience, it is natural that Commissioner Rosner has hit the ground running with a host of self-set goals and achievements for the agency to fulfill during his tenure. They are as follows:
He is “pro-energy”: This mean unlocking “lots of energy of all kinds.” And this includes building the necessary infrastructure.
“I am pro-energy; lots of energy!”
He wants to make the markets “smart and stable”: This means that capacity accreditation policies must be perpetuated where markets send price signals to developers to fulfill demand where needed on the grid with technologies that to contribute to reliability. This involves sending the right signals of what is needed at the right places on the grid while providing stable price signals to investors.
He wants to work with state regulators: He finds their work to be “incredibly impactful” and integrally related to the decisions made at FERC that flow through to state end users. This means that their “buy in is incredibly important and needed since they issue the permits that we are hoping to incent through the investment signals that FERC policy sends.”
He believes that generator interconnections are “too slow”: He is a proponent of Order No. 2023 implementation to accelerate the interconnection process given a “border-line crisis of a five-year wait.” He also maintains that industry must do “a lot more without regulation.” He is a proponent of automation and artificial intelligence to connect things “safely and rapidly” in fuel-neutral queues.
He believes that markets should send the “right signals for the right type of resources to resolve reliability problems and also making sure we get the most out of the grid we have today”: He would like to see implementation of line ratings policies previously adopted by the Commission for “incremental grid efficiency that we can deploy rapidly to get more resources online faster.”
He believes “we need to be flexible and innovative on new market designs”: He points out that FERC started with an EPAct2005 view of markets that was “initially rigid” but that he has found that “if you meet people where they are to build market solutions in their states that they want, that is a really positive approach.” He believes that regional differences are real and that this “portfolio has been really great to work on.”
He sees FERC as an agency that can unlock growing economic development: AI is a “cutting edge technology that it is good for the country to capitalize on” in terms of job creation and stimulating the economy. Also, reshoring of manufacturing and end-use electrification are creating new demand that needs to be met. He states (in agreement with former Chair Phillips) that “fundamentally Job No. 1 is reliability.” This means responding to “change management.” As the grid changes and patterns of demand change, “we need to be innovative and creative and vigilant on the reliability side.” This involves working with NERC, where, for example a reliability standard was approved by the Commission last month on supply chain risk management. It is a matter of life and death during weather events with very high or very low temperatures. He points to recent failures in Spain’s power delivery systems as precisely what FERC and NERC need to continue to stay ahead of to avoid.
“Job No. 1 is reliability!”
He is confident that progress is being made on all these fronts, citing Order No. 2023 as an example. “My hope is that that can be the floor, and we can have industry meet the moment and make the queues faster without regulation — and we are seeing innovation in some regions.”
He describes himself as “endlessly practical.” He is continuously working with his colleagues to meet the needs identified above and to get new generation built. He believes that the Order No. 1920 regional transmission planning rule has been transformed into a bipartisan initiative in large part due to his working closely with Chair Christie. He works towards a consensus approach with his colleagues and commends the industry for presenting recommendations that have broad support as well.
A Commissioner is Born: A Fourth Grader Discovers the Wonders of Energy
Young David Rosner’s fourth-grade science teacher had an experiment assignment, with electricity and “I was fascinated.” He did not go onto engineering school but was “seeking a way into a career in energy” while at a liberal arts college. After the Gulf War and later the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, he saw energy as even more compelling when saw “how dependent we were on countries that do not share our values.”
With that background and interest, he studied applied economics and worked at an economics consulting firm in D.C. Then things opened further when he saw a Washington Post job listing for the National Commission on Energy Policy – a think tank. Many of its recommendations were enacted into law in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. They hired him as a Policy Analyst. Former energy officials, members of Congress and industry leaders would gather to achieve a “shadow consensus based on rigorous analysis and then write a report with recommendations for policy makers.” A former Energy Information Administration Administrator worked with him on oil statistics for a year. “I found it fascinating; I learned all about oil.” He moved onto electricity and natural gas. It led to a much larger “Bipartisan Policy Center” that expanded beyond energy. Four former Senate Majority Leaders co-chaired this effort. He spent eight years there devoted to finding evidence-based, bipartisan solutions to energy problems. A fellow alumnus who was leaving the Department of Energy recommended him as a replacement on supplying energy data for Secretary Moniz. He found that to be an equally wonderful experience and led to him learning much about FERC and its “narrow but deep statutory authority.” He visited FERC many times in his DOE capacity and was eventually hired away by the Commission.
Seeing his enormously successful but unplanned and unforeseeable career path, one is struck by how application and luck went together. As he observed to us, nothing ever happened as he had planned. For that reason, his advice is that “even if something seems uninteresting or not in the direction you are trying to go, always take it.” When you are working in one area, accept the challenge to go into another area and enjoy learning something new.
For example, “when I started at the Bipartisan Policy Center in 2006, I thought I might want to go on to work on renewable energy”, noting that there was considerable discussion of these technologies at the time, and that today there is a section devoted to that topic in the George W. Bush Presidential Library. But instead, he was put to work on oil markets, a “critical part of the global economy.” Then he was offered the opportunity to study natural gas contracts. Surprisingly (to us anyway), he jumped at this unexpected endeavor, finding it appealing at a time before shale gas when there was natural gas price volatility.
He came to know future FERC Commissioner Colette Honorable, “a very kind person,” who at that time was a state Commission Chairman and President of NARUC. The two of them looked at achieving both low prices and stable prices for consumers as opposed to embracing spot market positioning, a prevailing practice because mistakes had been made in prior long-term price positioning but a practice fraught with price volatility. Working with Chairman Honorable, he helped persuade NARUC to adopt a resolution embracing a diverse portfolio of natural gas contracts.
Recently, he has seen this same wise philosophy espoused at a recent FERC technical conference on resource adequacy. He continues to believe that some long-term contracting should be part of the mix. But it was sheer happenstance that he was brought into this field and obtained these insights that still have broad applicability over matters that he can influence. Another added benefit of this providential and unsought experience, was that when he was nominated to the Commission and called upon former Commissioners, once again Commissioner Honorable “was very generous with her time and her advice, and I appreciate her leadership.”
Returning Home to FERC
“It was not the path that I thought I would follow,” he told us in coming back to FERC as a Commissioner. He has had quite an array of service during the following Chairmanships: Bay, LaFleur, McIntyre, Chatterjee, Danly, Glick, Phillips and now Christie (all of whom we have interviewed for this mighty publication).
He views the agency as an “incredible institution with a skilled professional Staff that gives the Chair regardless of political party their best advice.” Of course, when he was on the Staff, he did exactly that. With his high regard for FERC, he is “humbled and honored to be in this role.” Never having envisioned himself as a FERC Commissioner, he tries to “bring many of the tools I developed as Staff and use the expertise that other parts of the Staff here have to try to get the right, legally durable answers, and find a consensus.” His aim, he tells us, is “to find an incremental durable win for the country as opposed to something that will go back and forth.”
We asked him how he was selected among all the FERC Staffers to be detailed to Senate Energy Committee Chairman Manchin. He laughingly replied, “I don’t know really.” He then gave us the following background that unexpectedly led him to the Senate slot. He had been hired at FERC to work on electric-gas coordination after having worked under Energy Secretary Moniz on natural gas issues. After a year studying gas procurement at FERC, he was given assignments in Order No. 1000 issues involving regional electric transmission planning and cost allocation matters. Then he moved on to capacity market reform, where he ran several conferences hearing many different perspectives. That was when he worked closely with Chair Glick. It was the Glick team that approached him to be delegated as the “transmission expert” requested by Chairman Manchin. He said that they thought he would be a good fit because “You can speak English!”, meaning he can “break down the nuance of FERC” and had run these conferences as well as worked on transmission matters while on Staff. Of course, his answer to the assignment was Yes, although he wondered what Chairman Manchin wanted to do about transmission.
“I don’t know” why Chairman Glick asked him to accept the mission to Senate Energy Committee Chairman Manchin for a “transmission expert” except that he was told, “You can speak English!” but his immediate response was “Yes,” while wondering what Chairman Manchin wanted to do with transmission.
Respect for Statutes and For Colleagues
“I had always wanted to work on the Hill, and I had throughout my career been intrigued by it but had not found the right moment to go.” He observed that for most Capitol Hill Staffers, it is their first job while they are in their twenties. He came there with 15 years of energy experience, which was unusual. He was used to working on a multi-disciplinary team at FERC with an “appropriate rigorous review process.” By contrast, he was part of a Democratic Committee Staff of half a dozen people covering energy issues within the Committee’s jurisdiction. “You are kind of out there on your own.” Of that two-and-a-half experience, he states that he “came away with a deep appreciation for the legislative process.” He has “much more faith in the country and the institutions than when I began my time working on the Committee,” adding that “there is a lot more transpiring between the two sides than what they report on in the press.”
He saw that Chairman Manchin was always interested in working with colleagues of both parties. Mr. Rosner worked on energy permitting issues for the Committee’s reform agenda with bipartisan collaboration. He also developed great respect for the statutes by which the Commission operates. He keeps them on his desk. “Having a Senator who seeks to amend the Federal Power Act is not a task for the faint of heart. But also,” he observed, “it is entirely appropriate that it should be amended, that it be difficult to do, and critical to find the consensus that is necessary to make a change if one is warranted.” He understands from this experience that “there is no word in the statute that is there by accident.” He has found that the same painstaking, slow, collaborative process is also a positive necessity in promulgating rulemakings at FERC as in enacting legislation in Congress.
“The right number is five!”
In that connection, it appears to us that Commissioner Rosner has the potential to be a solidifying force in the Commission given that it is composed of Commissioners of only approximately a year or less of experience with the departure of Chairman Christie. That is, it struck us observers that he has the FERC Staff and Capitol Hill background to provide a continuity of experience that the five-member agency with staggered terms was envisioned to have when the agency was so established. We put that suggestion to the good Commissioner. He did not state it that way, but he did allow that “I am very sure that the right number is five…. The orders really benefit from diverse expertise and the camaraderie and process of reaching consensus. It makes it easier to get a good order with five.”
He states that he benefitted from Chair Phillips’ experience and guidance. And he has formed a wonderful relationship with Chair Christie. He finds that no length of tenure is optimal, observing that he is “learning every single day.” He is grateful that “we all had the single year, we all work very well together…. I feel good about the collegiality and the way we have been working together to solve these hard problems.” He appreciates the bipartisanship shown at FERC and the ability to reach consensus.
Sees Domestic Energy Boom Welcoming All Energy Sources
“My personal view is that no matter what energy source you like, we made more of it here in America last year than ever before in history.” Quoting Kennedy, he observes, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” He sees the great problem as “rising demand.” This need for energy alleviates many of the fuel choice fights of the past since all is needed now. “Every electron, we’ll take it, every molecule, we’ll take it!”
He contrasts today’s situation with when he started his career after EPAct2005 was enacted, and horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, and prior interventions in the Persian Gulf with a world of scarcity. “No shale gas, running out of gas. Entirely dependent on the global market for petroleum products, with renewables in their infancy.”
Today’s outlook he finds to be turned our 180 degrees, where “we produced more oil than Saudi Arabia, we produced more natural gas than any other country in the world, and renewable energy is growing faster than it ever has before.” The mission is to “take advantage of all these energy sources and get them into the markets while respecting FERC’s long-standing policy of fuel-neutrality.” While recognizing that there are still large challenges ahead, he sees the progress that has been made over the last decade and calls himself an optimist.
With this insightful regulator in place, we all have good reason to be optimistic about FERC decision-making in the days and years ahead.
Rundown on Rosner
Favorite Movie: Either Indiana Jones or one of the early Star Wars movies.
Favorite Thing About Being Back at FERC: The Dockets.
Surprising Personal Fact: While I love the daytime policy work, outside of work, I like to be hands-on and so I do woodworking and DIY to the point where I am DIY dangerous.
Best Advice I Ever Received: Be open to new things even if they don’t seem interesting.
Favorite Season and Why: Summer because I don’t like being cold, but I also love cold AC.
In School I Excelled At: Economics.
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Mint Oreo Cookie.
My Hidden Talent Is: Consensus Building.
Favorite D.C. Sports Team: The Nats.
Favorite Junk Food: Popcorn.
Most Proud Of: The team I have here on the Commission staff.
Tips on Maintaining a Good Life/Work Balance: Find something that you love and put family first.
Mountains or Beach: Beach.
Favorite Pizza Topping: Sausage and Mushroom.
Most Influential Person in Childhood: Fourth Grade Science Teacher.