NARUC publishes primer on the use of AI for utility commissioners

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) published an educational primer that seeks to improve awareness of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and practices among public utility commissions.

The Artificial Intelligence for Natural Gas Utilities: A Primer provides definitions for AI and other relevant terms and highlights AI’s potential to enhance natural gas utility performance.

“The Department of Energy’s investments in Artificial Intelligence research and development have helped unlock new opportunities for AI across the energy sector,” Shawn Bennett, deputy assistant secretary for oil and natural gas at NARUC, said. “We welcome this new primer to communicate the ways in which AI can deliver value to natural gas utilities and customers.”

Further, it cites three challenges common to natural gas distribution utilities: aging infrastructure replacement, excavator damage to underground infrastructure, and customer participation in energy efficiency programs.

“Aging infrastructure and excavation damage lead to real costs for natural gas utilities and their customers,” Commissioner D. Ethan Kimbrel of the Illinois Commerce Commission, one of the authors of the primer, said. “Using AI to predict infrastructure problems before they happen can help natural gas utilities allocate scarce resources more effectively across vast delivery systems. Further, the use of AI to improve natural gas efficiency programs can deliver additional energy and cost savings to natural gas customers.”

It includes several case studies, providing examples of where utilities have effectively used AI solutions, the challenges to AI implementation, and future AI deployment opportunities.

“There are many documented examples of AI deployment by electric utilities, but comparatively few resources examining the potential of AI for natural gas utilities,” said NARUC Center for Partnerships & Innovation Director Danielle Sass Byrnett. “This primer leverages real-world experience implementing AI for natural gas infrastructure replacement, damage prevention, and efficiency programs, answering questions commissions might encounter when considering utility proposals for AI investments.”

The primer was produced through the U.S. Department of Energy-NARUC Natural Gas Partnership. It is in alignment with the partnership’s objective to build commissions’ knowledge of emerging natural gas technologies. It does not seek to endorse AI over other solutions, nor does it endorse any particular company or approach.

“Public utility commissions are responsible for ensuring that utilities are making the best possible investment decisions on behalf of their customers,” Commissioner Diane X. Burman of the New York State Public Service Commission, who chairs NARUC’s Committee on Gas and the NGP, said. “This primer lays the groundwork for productive collaboration among regulators, utilities, and other stakeholders to understand opportunities for AI to enhance the safety, reliability, resilience, affordability, and environmental stewardship of our natural gas infrastructure.”

The report was authored by Burman, Kimbrel, Commissioner Tricia Pridemore of the Georgia Public Service Commission, Andreas Thanos of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, and NARUC Senior Manager Kiera Zitelman.