The White House said on Wednesday President Donald Trump has appointed Neil Chatterjee, an avid supporter of subsidizing aging coal and nuclear power plants, as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Chatterjee, a Republican from coal-producing Kentucky, who was a FERC commissioner, had been a backer last year of a directive by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, that the commission ultimately rejected, to bail out coal and nuclear plants. FERC, an independent office of the Department of Energy, makes decisions on electricity transmission and interstate natural gas pipelines and facilities. Chatterjee served as FERC’s acting head for several months last year before Kevin McIntyre was sworn in as the chairman of the agency in December. McIntyre, who underwent surgery last year for brain cancer, will step down to become a […]