Commissioner’s exit leaves energy panel with lone member

WASHINGTON – And then there was one.

The five-member commission that oversees natural gas pipelines and other energy projects is down to a single commissioner as one of the panel’s two remaining members steps down on Friday.

The departure of Democrat Colette Honorable from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission further hobbles the panel’s ability to make decisions on pipeline projects and proposed mergers worth billions of dollars and threatens to undermine President Donald Trump’s promise of U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

The energy agency has been without a quorum since February, leaving more than a dozen major projects and utility mergers in limbo.

Trump has named two Republicans and a Democrat to fill the vacancies, but they have not been approved as the Senate left for its July 4 recess.