Contact: Regina L. Davis, 202-898-9382, rdavis@naruc.org

Montana’s Kavulla Testifies on Modernization of PURPA at Energy Hearing

WASHINGTON—Vice Chair of the Montana Public Service Commission, Travis Kavulla,  testified at the January 19, 2018, U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy hearing, “Legislation Addressing LNG Exports and PURPA Modernization.”

Established in 1978 as the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, those policies are now being reexamined in the context of current standards and best practices. Known as H.R. 4476, PURPA Modernization Act of 2017, the bill was introduced by Rep. Tim Walberg (MI). Kavulla, who will represent the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, notes in filed testimony that the current policy “takes a dated approach to renewable energy” and that NARUC supports “modernization efforts that will encourage competition as a means toward renewable development.” 

NARUC addressed the need for PURPA reform in its recent letter to FERC, which outlined three propositions to help modernize the law. Under the draft bill, of most importance to NARUC are the provisions to allow for competitive processes instead of the mandatory purchase obligations under PURPA that apply administrative forecast pricing.

The legislative text from the hearing may be found at http://bit.ly/2FLcTIl. See Kavulla’s testimony at http://bit.ly/KavullaPURPA. A webcast of the hearing is available at http://bit.ly/2mTpMbH.

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Related: PSC Vice-Chairman Kavulla promotes reform to federal power-purchase mandate at Congressional hearing