New report probes most pressing challenges in the electric sector
A new report from the Critical Consumer Issues Forum (CCIF) explored the most pressing challenges in the electric sector and how to handle them.
The report, titled Navigating the Challenges & Opportunities of Today’s Regulatory Landscape, was presented at an event collocated with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) 2023 Summer Policy Summit and the 2023 National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) Mid-Year Meeting in Austin, Texas.
The CCIF is a collaborative forum that includes members of NARUC, NASUCA, and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). The report, developed with input from state commissions, consumer advocates, and electric company communities, outlined some of the key challenges. Those include compounding economic pressures; high natural gas prices; extreme weather, reliability, and resilience; the clean energy transition; customer education and assistance; and pricing and affordability.
It then delved into seven consensus principles for dealing with the key challenges from six areas:
- Short- and long-term impacts of policy and regulatory decisions on customers and others;
- Mitigating upward pressure on customer bills;
- Enhancing the regulatory model with added flexibility and modernization;
- Capitalizing on federal opportunities and customer assistance;
- Creating more robust customer education and assistance strategies; and
- Ensuring resources, staff, and training for state commissions, consumer advocates, and key state/community partners engaged in customer assistance.
“The regulatory compact that enables our member companies to make investments on behalf of all customers continues to demonstrate clear benefits for all stakeholders,” Phil Moeller, EEI executive vice president, business operations group and regulatory affairs, said. “The CCIF report released today reiterates the importance of stakeholder participation and our shared focus on customers, as well as the need for greater flexibility and efficiency in regulatory processes to balance risks in today’s regulatory environment.”
The report serves as a foundation for additional dialogue and collaboration among the three core groups and other relevant stakeholders.
“The CCIF process captured what it often feels like for state commissioners, who are trying to navigate a regulatory landscape fraught with challenges that can pop up at any moment in the midst of focusing on other—and typically longstanding—challenges,” NARUC President and Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority Commissioner Michael Caron said. “NARUC members appreciate the opportunity to candidly explore these challenges and share ideas to constructively address them with consumer advocates and electric company representatives.”
The principles developed during the CCIF dialogues do not represent or override any policies or positions of NARUC, NASUCA, EEI, or other participating organizations.
“On behalf of customers who are facing a host of economic uncertainties in addition to pressure on their electric bills, consumer advocates share concerns about the ways in which we are navigating today’s increasingly complex regulatory landscape,” NASUCA President and North Carolina Utilities Commission Public Staff Executive Director Chris Ayers said. “The facilitated dialogue with state commission and electric company counterparts that the CCIF process provides is invaluable for NASUCA members and encourages more open lines of communication and more informed regulatory decisions.”
