NARUC publishes report on stakeholder engagement strategies used by public utilities

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Center for Partnerships & Innovation released a report on emerging stakeholder engagement strategies used by public utility commissions.

Emerging stakeholder engagement processes gather input from diverse perspectives to enable informed decision-making in the public interest. Commissions can consider an array of options for proceeding at key decision points, such as the facilitation approach and meeting format.

The report, called Public Utility Commission Stakeholder Engagement: A Decision-Making Framework, offers commissions a roadmap to evaluate these decision points. The report provides key questions, emerging best practices, and related resources informed by other commissions’ experiences.

“When Ohio began its grid modernization endeavor, the focus was on a comprehensive educational approach. Many groups were willing to share what they know, and we were glad to provide the forum for these groups to come together to help educate us, our staff, and other stakeholders so we could make informed decisions when creating our state roadmap,” Public Utility Commission of Ohio Chairman Beth Trombold said. “I was eager to share Ohio’s process and outcomes in NARUC’s report and to learn from the approaches taken by other states.”

For the report, NARUC staff gathered feedback from the Public Utility Commission of Ohio and 10 other commissions on grid modernization, distribution system planning, and distributed energy resources.

“This framework will support NARUC’s members across the country as they are increasingly faced with complex decision-making on novel issues like transportation electrification and integrated system planning,” Danielle Sass Byrnett, director of NARUC’s Center for Partnerships & Innovation, said. “NARUC is pleased to elevate and share successful state strategies and lessons learned for stakeholder engagement.”