Former FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee Joins Hogan Lovells

Neil Chatterjee—a Republican energy regulator who clashed with former President Donald Trump for raising the issue of carbon pricing—is joining Hogan Lovells as senior adviser to the firm’s energy regulatory practice group.

He was confirmed as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2017. He announced earlier this month he would step down from his position on Monday, leaving the independent agency evenly split between two Democrats and two Republicans.

Chatterjee pushed the energy regulatory body to revamp its review and approval process for the booming U.S. natural gas sector and backed efforts to confront cyber security threats. He previously worked as an adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Chatterjee also will join the Climate Leadership Council as a senior adviser. The council advocates for a carbon tax that would refund all the revenue to U.S. households.

‘Badge of Honor’

Chatterjee was FERC’s chairman last fall when he had the commission delve into some early steps to explore carbon pricing, an effort that got him demoted by Trump the day after the November election.

The former commissioner later termed the demotion “a badge of honor” and said it served to highlight why the regulatory agency was established by Congress as an independent agency.

FERC ultimately issued a policy in April that that stopped short of endorsing such approach, but said would review state proposals that incorporate carbon pricing.

Chatterjee is the most recent addition to a firm that has brought on Timothy Bergreen, former staff director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and longtime chief of staff for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

Th eform also has hired Arjun Garg, former chief counsel and acting deputy administrator at the Federal Aviation Administration who led the agency’s legal strategy during the grounding and eventual resumption of flights for Boeing’s 737 MAX jet, and Kelly Ann Shaw, former deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs and deputy director of the National Economic Council during the Trump administration.