The utility industry has a reputation for being stodgy and slow to innovate and change. Yet one of its main regulators is quite different. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has often taken the lead when it comes to embracing technology and adopting new ways of connecting with the public. From electronic filing to webcasts of public meetings, the FERC seemed to be an early adopter. Last month, FERC did it again with the launch of “Open Access,” the podcast series. According to host Craig Cano, the goal is

“to have a conversation about FERC, what it does and how that can affect you. FERC can get very legal and very technical, so we will strive to keep it simple.”

The podcast begins by explaining what FERC does:

“… oversees the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas and oil. FERC’s authority also includes review of proposals to build interstate natural gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals, and licensing of nonfederal hydropower projects. FERC protects the reliability of the high-voltage interstate transmission system through mandatory reliability standards and it monitors interstate energy markets to ensure that everyone in those markets is playing by the rules.”

In the first episode, Mary O’Driscoll of FERC talks with Charles Curtis, the first chairman of the FERC. They take a walk down memory lane where I learned the good ole days were not always so good. The former commissioner states,

“The Federal Power Commission, before it, was a commission in significant disarray. It had a decisional process that assigned the Commission about 22,000 decisions per year, and it had a backlog of some 20 to 25 years of matters awaiting decision of the Commission.”

Ouch, I can’t imagine any business waiting that long for adjudication.

In the second episode, Ms. O’Driscoll connects us with then-commissioner Tony Clark, who reflects on his time at the Commission as he prepared to leave at the end of September 2016. Former commissioner Clark served one term at FERC, having been nominated by President Obama and sworn in on June 15, 2012. Prior to that, he served 12 years as a member of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, including a term as its president. With this being one of the most lethal presidential elections since I have been voting, it is refreshing to hear former commissioner Clark discuss FERC’s nonpartisan approach:

“When you’re talking about something as important as energy, which is critical to the safety and well-being of the nation’s economy and our people, you want to have decisions that are made in a nonpartisan, nonpolitical way. … You may disagree from time to time with commissioners on a certain issue, but it tends to not be political. It is often said around here there’s not a Republican way or a Democrat way to keep the lights on. So I think that nonpartisan nature of it makes it easy to work with people in good faith. Over the four-plus years that I’ve been here it would be difficult to find any particular pattern in terms of vote. Here was a coalition of commissioners that always voted together and here is the other side that voted together in a bloc on certain things. It never worked that way. And I think the key is you have to maintain a degree of collegiality and respect.”

Wow! The house, the senate and candidates should take note! You can listen to both episodes here.