Critical Consumer Issues Forum report features principles on energy grid resilience
The Critical Consumer Issues Forum (CCIF), a collaborative effort of energy sector associations, released a new report that features 12 consensus principles to strengthen energy grid resilience, developed through the joint effort of participants.
The CCIF includes the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA), and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI).
“During times of crisis, such as the country’s present battle against COVID-19, consumers should be able to count on those of us who are expected to ensure that the energy grid is resilient against other catastrophic events that could disrupt critical electric and gas services,” Brandon Presley, NARUC president and Mississippi Public Service Commissioner, said. “The CCIF process provided an excellent opportunity for state commissioners to work with consumer advocates and energy company representatives from across the nation to make progress on these important issues.”
The report comes as energy sector stakeholders are preparing to tackle challenges that will be presented by an ever-evolving energy mix, a changing climate, and extreme weather events.
“Now more than ever, we know that electricity and the energy grid are indispensable in our society, and ensuring that we can continue to provide consumers with a reliable and resilient supply of electricity is a responsibility that we all share,” said Phil Moeller, EEI executive vice president of Business Operations Group and Regulatory Affairs.
Together, the participants agreed:
1. Energy resilience is a shared responsibility of public and private sector entities.
2. To support adequate, equitable and cost-effective resilience.
3. Energy companies should proactively assess, plan for, invest in and implement equitable and cost-effective measures to reach resilience objectives. State commissions should use their authority to guarantee companies have plans, that processes allow input from consumers and other stakeholders, provide oversight, and guarantee just and reasonable recovery of resilience costs. Consumer advocates should actively participate in regulatory and collaborative stakeholder processes, help define resilience objectives and identify projects, and review and present evidence on project costs, recovery and the meeting of resilience objectives.
4. Energy companies should engage with consumers, communities and stakeholders.
5. Federal, state and local policymakers should support regional planning and cooperation.
6. Resilience investment is unique to individual circumstances.
7. Stakeholders should collaborate on the development of independent and credible tools to guide proactive investment.
8. Design standards and planning criteria used to evaluate resilience investments should offer flexibility and accommodate regional and local system needs and lessons learned.
9. Reliable broadband networks should be universally available.
10. Energy companies need more wiggle room for utilizing drones.
11. Regulatory processes should ensure resilience efforts are appropriate and lead to cost-effective measures that actually improve it.
12. Energy company resilience plans should incorporate the flexibility to address things like cost-effectiveness, technology, climate change and communication plans.
“As evident by our participation in the latest CCIF series, consumer advocates actively engage on energy grid resilience issues on behalf of the consumers we represent,” NASUCA President and West Virginia Consumer Advocate Division Director Jackie Roberts said. “While acknowledging that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, consumer advocates — and consumers — stand to benefit from efforts like CCIF that facilitate the sharing and constructive debate of processes and strategies to address resilience.”
