U.S. President Donald Trump has picked Energy Department staffer Bernard McNamee, a proponent of his administration's plan to bail out aging coal and nuclear plants, to join the nation's top energy regulator.
If confirmed, McNamee would fill a seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently vacated by Robert Powelson, the panel's most outspoken Republican critic of the administration's bid to throw a lifeline to the coal industry.
McNamee, who directs the Energy Department's Office of Policy, is widely regarded as being more amenable to the administration's efforts than his predecessor. He previously served as the agency's deputy general counsel under Trump and was involved in discussions on Energy Secretary Rick Perry's ill-fated plan to compensate plants for their ability to store fuel on site for 90 days.