CUB at NASUCA 2013
Posted on January 28, 2014 by Nadine Hanhan
Tags, Consumers and Utility Customers, History of CUB and General CUB News, Public Involvement and Coalitions
Last November, CUB attended a conference held jointly by the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). NASUCA is an association whose member organizations, including CUB and many other state and local utility advocates, represent utility ratepayers. NARUC is a non-profit representing public utility commissioners throughout the country.
Every year, CUB attends this annual conference to dialogue with utility consumer advocates in other states. It is a great opportunity to learn about important regulatory issues and current projects around the country, and to exchange ideas about how to better advocate for consumers. This past November’s conference was titled, “Managing Risk: Protecting Consumers and Critical Assets,” and took place in Orlando, Florida.
The conference offered over fifty different panels, seminars, and similar opportunities to learn more about the utility industry. CUB staff members were able to sit in on most of the NASUCA panels and a few of the NARUC panels. Among the topics addressed at the conference were transmission and policy planning, diversity in electricity sources, the impacts of the federal government on Wall Street and how it relates to utility regulation, EPA regulations, Renewable Energy Standards, net metering, distributed generation, and energy efficiency.
Throughout the conference, various industry experts, advocates, regulators, federal employees, and representatives of various firms and organizations hosted and participated in discussions that gave insight about how to manage risk while protecting assets and consumers. There were also a number of exhibitor tables and networking opportunities, and CUB got the chance to meet and interact with Commissioners, industry experts, and advocates from other states.
Because the theme of the conference pertained to managing risk, a number of panels and seminars focused on cyber security. These were fascinating panels that brought to light a lot of interaction between the public and private sector. Cyber threats to the power grid are a growing concern with government and utilities, and the panels discussed possible scenarios, state and non-state actors that pose risks to the power grid, the role of the smart grid, strategies for mitigating risk, and information protection, among other related issues.
In one panel, a Department of Homeland Security representative, two commissioners from different states, a director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), and the CEO of Pepco Holdings, Inc. all discussed various strategies to combat the threats of cyber security. Specifically, they talked about the culture of information sharing within various sectors of the government and the upcoming role of the smart grid and big data. Panelists talked about setting up collaborative structures that bring different industries in to mitigate risks, as well as the cost-effectiveness of such measures.
The Critical Consumer Issues Forum (CCIF), an organization designed to facilitate collaboration among state commissioners, consumer advocates, and electric utilities, hosted a panel that included a Wisconsin state utility commissioner, a consumer advocate, and representatives from Wal-Mart, Pacific Gas & Electric, a local electric cooperative, and SunPower. Their discussion focused on the challenges and future of distributed generation, solar power and the cost-effectiveness of net metering, and the future role of the utility.
Interestingly, this panel’s topic paralleled the central focus of CUB’s conference that took place in October of last year, The Flexibility Challenge. In addition, the final panel, entitled, “Tomorrow Land: Determining the Next Generation of Utility Regulation” featured Oregon’s own Commissioner Susan Ackerman, and it also featured topics directly in line with last fall’s CUB conference. It was encouraging to see similar themes being recognized by the industry throughout the rest of the country.
NASUCA and NARUC truly have their fingers on the pulse of the most critical issues facing utility commissions and consumer advocates across the US. To have been able to participate for another year was a privilege for CUB.
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04/05/17 | 1 Comment | CUB at NASUCA 2013