PIELC 2013 Recap

Last week, CUB headed down to Eugene for the 31st annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC). With more than 3,000 attendees from 50 countries and 125 panels over the four-day conference, PIELC is considered the largest and most comprehensive conference of its kind. This year’s theme was “EARTH: Too Big to Fail.”

CUB had a big presence at the conference throughout the weekend. We had a great location for our table at the outreach fair with materials about all of our programs. We spent the weekend talking to locals and visitors about CUB’s history protecting ratepayers in Oregon, CUB Connects, our annual conference, EV development in Oregon, and all the other great projects we are busy working on.

Our Executive Director, Bob Jenks, spoke on a panel entitled “Utility Regulation and the Fight Against Coal.” On this panel, Bob was joined by Ben Otto from the Idaho Conservation League and Rachel Wilson from Synapse Energy Economics. The three speakers gave a well-rounded approach to understanding the nuances of utility regulation to some daring early risers on Saturday morning. Ben started the panel with a history of utility regulation in the US and then focused on contemporary processes in the Pacific Northwest. Next, Bob gave a rousing account of how CUB worked closely with PGE to close Boardman by 2020. Following this, Rachel offered tips on how the average citizen can better access and analyze utility data in order to better engage in the regulatory process. At the end, the audience had plenty of questions on how we can move forward towards a clean energy future. Overall, it was a great panel and was very well received!

After Bob’s early morning panel, SA Anders, CUB’s Director of Operations, moderated a panel on “Transition from Fossil Fuels.” This panel was designed as a follow-up to complement Bob’s previous panel, offering the attendees a comprehensive understanding. SA moderated a lively conversation with Jamie Fine of the Environmental Defense Fund, Shana Lazerow from Communities for a Better Environment, and Henry Roberson from the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center. The panelists had an interactive conversation, touching on everything from energy efficiency and demand response to integrating renewables and the challenges and opportunities along the way. An especially impressive point that came out in the conversation was a fact that Jaime shared: the average ratepayer spends only nine minutes a year thinking about their energy bills! Wow, there’s definitely a lot of improvement to be done there.

Overall, the weekend was a big success for both CUB and the incredibly hardworking and dedicated U of O law students who put the whole event together. Once again, a big thanks to the students, the volunteers of Land Air Water, and Friends of Land Air Water for being so great to work with. We can’t wait for next year!

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