NARUC president sends letter to Trump transition team

National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) President Robert Powelson recently sent letters to President Donald Trump and members of Trump’s energy and telecommunications transition teams on behalf of NARUC.

NARUC corresponds with each incoming administration’s transition team to convey state priorities on energy and utility issues and to seek to build cooperative relationships.

Key concerns addressed in Powelson’s energy letter include infrastructure replacement and nuclear waste, specifically addressing the delayed proceedings for constructing the first geological repository for high-level nuclear waste in the United States at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Other top issues included state-federal jurisdiction and modernizing the 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act.

The telecommunications letter emphasized the need for improved relationships between state and federal government, as well as decentralizing federal telecommunications policy by returning more power to the states and reforming the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

“NARUC members possess a depth of knowledge and practical experience in energy and utility matters that affect every American citizen,” Powelson said. “NARUC is a non-partisan association.  We know how to work collaboratively and effectively, and that is our goal with the new Administration.”   

NARUC also extended an invitation to the Trump Administration to participate in its Winter Committee Meeting in Washington D.C. in February.