Dive Brief:

• Ron Binz has withdrawn his nomination for chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
• “The implications of this fight are something worth pondering. If this kind of handling of a nomination become [...] the new normal, that’s going to make it a lot more difficult for good energy policy to grow,” Binz said in a statement. “The caricature that they created had nothing to do with who I am and nothing to do with what I might’ve brought to FERC. It was just a blood sport."
• Possible new candidates for the nomination include Colette Honorable, chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, and FERC commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, according to Bloomberg. 

Dive Insight: 

Binz's fate was less tied to his qualifications for the FERC job than the continuing drumbeat in Congress that Obama and his regulatory team is waging a "war on coal." As a practical matter, FERC has no authority to act on the proposed construction of new power plants. It licenses hydroelectric projects only.