NARUC appoints North Dakota Commissioner Julie Fedorchak as newest president
At the 135th Annual Meeting and Education Conference of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) held last week, regulators installed North Dakota Commissioner Julie Fedorchak as the organization’s new president, among other decisions.
“The electricity sector is undergoing a top-to-bottom revolution that will generate unprecedented demand for and dependence on electricity and will result in an American society that has far less tolerance for electricity outages,” Fedorchak said. “This transition stresses the gas sector both by significantly increasing demand for gas and creating uncertainty about the long-term investments needed to supply it.”
With her appointment, Fedorchak also announced a theme to guide the next year – Focused on the Future: State Regulators Leading the Way. Coupled with this, she announced a collaborative new gas-electric initiative between NARUC and the larger industry, which will push to unite regulators, utilities, grid and pipeline operators, producers and suppliers to coordinate their gas electric systems and get them all on the same page.
The event wasn’t all about Fedorchak, though. Regulators also participated in informative sessions, elected two other officers – Commissioner Tricia Pridemore of Georgia and Commissioner Ann Rendahl of Washington, to first and second vice president, respectively – passed resolutions and interacted with stakeholders. More than 1,000 people attended the four day event, which also served as the conclusion to a three-year theme known as Connecting the Dots: Innovative/Disruptive Technology and Regulation.
Under that umbrella, topics of discussion included how regulators could partner with the government regarding the clean energy transition, integrated resource planning and operational challenges to the bulk power system.
The non-profit organization also doled out two awards: the Ray Baum Memorial Leadership Award for public service efforts and the Terry Barnich Award for Promoting International Cooperation Among Utility Regulators and Development of Professional Regulation. The Ray Baum award was given to Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission Infrastructure Manager Rebecca Beaton, while the winner of the Terry Barnich award was Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission Chairman Dave Danner.
