A staff exodus is intensifying at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, with employees seeking private-sector jobs after the nomination of a White House personnel adviser for a seat on the commission and a governmentwide return-to-office mandate.
Five current and former FERC officials and staff granted anonymity to speak freely said concerns that the commission might no longer be a neutral arbiter of energy policy, due in part to actions by the Trump administration aimed at blocking renewable energy projects, could lead to more high-level staff departures.
Former FERC Chair Mark Christie said in April that the agency was on track to lose 9 percent of its staff this year due to voluntary resignations. As of September, the figure is 11 percent, with 175 voluntary departures among the agency’s 1,500 employees.
“Everyone in the industry just has to get a reality check now that FERC had a brain drain problem. It’s accelerated,” said Devin Hartman, director of energy and environment policy at the R Street Institute.
