On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (“ENR Committee”) was never able to reach its 12-member quorum to begin a vote on the nomination of John R. Norris as commissioner of FERC.  As such, John Norris must continue to wait for the ENR Committee’s approval vote before he can become a commissioner at FERC.  

Currently, Mr. Norris is Chief of Staff for Secretary Tom Vilsack at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”), a position he has held since January of this year.  Prior to joining the USDA, Mr. Norris was Chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board from 2005 until 2009.  Mr. Norris was previously nominated by President Obama on June 10 to fill the seat of former Chairman Joseph Kelliher, who left the Commission on March 13 (see June 12, 2009 edition of the WER).

As of press time, a new business meeting has not been scheduled by the ENR Committee to vote on Mr. Norris’ nomination to FERC.