The National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) hosts the Regulatory Training Initiative, providing comprehensive training to the regulatory community using a variety of learner-centric, flexible methods. This program will provide participants with an introduction to the principles and practice of regulation. The principles of regulation are a mix of engineering, financial, legal, accounting, and economic concepts and methods that provide the basis from which regulatory decisions are made. The practice of regulation focuses on the scope of regulatory decisions and how those decisions are made, including the mix of different types of expertise needed to mold those decisions.

• Why Regulate? – September 2020 (56min)
• Public Utility and Just and Reasonable Rates – September 2020 (1hr 7min)
• Products of Regulation – September 2020 (1hr)
• Process of Regulation – October 2020 (1hr 1min)
• Jurisdictional Issues of Regulation– October 2020 (58 min)
• Utility Business Models – October 2020 (1hr 11min)
• The Coming Utility Transition – October 2020 (1hr)
• What it's like to be a Regulator – November 2020 (1hr 1min)

Since 2017, NARUC has partnered with Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL) to provide public utility commissions with regional, in-person and virtual training on electric distribution systems, utility distribution system planning, and approaches to state engagement in integrated distribution planning. Training sessions have been customized to each region and include topics such as: planning for resilience and reliability, scenario modeling, host capacity analysis, and locational net benefit approaches.

Trainees have included utility commissioners, state energy office leaders, consumer advocates, and staff working on grid modernization and distribution planning issues. Trainers have included experts from across the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories, research and consulting firms, and independent consultants.

• Integrated Distribution System and Grid Modernization Planning – March 11-12, 2020 (44 min)
• Distribution Systems 101 – March 11-12, 2020 (1hr 29min)
• Distribution System Control and Automation – March 11-12, 2020 (49 min)
• Utility Distribution Planning 101 – March 11-12, 2020 (1hr)
• Forcasting Load on Distribution Systems with Distributed Energy Resources – March 11-12, 2020 (44 min)
• Demand Flexibility as a Utility System Resource: Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings – March 11-12, 2020 (40 min)
• Reliability/Resilience-Based Metrics and Planning – March 11-12, 2020 (43 min)
• Integrating Resilience into Grid Modernization Planning – March 11-12, 2020 (43 min)
• National Security Considerations in Distribution System Planning – March 11-12, 2020 (33 min)
• Walk-through of Long-term Utility Distribution Plans – March 11-12, 2020 (46 min)
• Emerging Distribution Planning Analyses – March 11-12, 2020 (1hr 11min)
• Grid Modernization Investment Economics – March 11-12, 2020 (36 min)
• Distribution System Components, Systems and Operations – Part 1 – October 13-15, 2020 (29 min)
• Distribution System Components, Systems and Operations – Part 2 – October 13-15, 2020 (22 min)
• Integration, Management and Control of Distributed Energy Resources – October 13-15, 2020 (1 hr)
• Operational Coordination across Bulk Power and Distribution Systems – October 13-15, 2020 (17 min)
• Industrial Control System (ICS) – Communications, Sensors & Cybersecurity 101 – October 13-15, 2020 (41 min)
• Distribution system Planning Components and Coordination with Bulk Power System Planning – October 13-15, 2020 (19 min)
• Emerging Distribution Planning Analyses – October 13-15, 2020 (54 min)
• Integrated Distribution Resilience Planning – October 13-15, 2020 (44 min)
• Grid Modernization Planning and Investment Economics – October 13-15, 2020 (33 min)
• Public Utility Commission Distribution Planning Practices – October 13-15, 2020 (39 min)
• Impacts of DERs on Net Loads and Approaches for Actively Managing Load Shapes – October 13-15, 2020 (37 min)
• Demand Flexibility as a Utility System Resource – October 13-15, 2020 (34 min)
• Planning for Energy Storage and Microgrids – October 13-15, 2020 (1hr 6min)
• Planning for Electric Vehicles and Strategies for Managing Charging – October 13-15, 2020 (52 min)
• Integration, Management, and Control of Supply-Side DER – February 26, 2021 (30 min)
• Demand Flexibility Technology, New Programs and Emerging Policies – February 26, 2021 (25 min)
• Grid Modernization and Resilience Planning – March 5, 2021 (37 min)
• Grid Modernization Investment Economics – March 5, 2021 (17 min)
• Planning for Energy Storage – March 19, 2021 (33 min)
• Storage for Integration and Hybrid Power Plants – March 19, 2021 (24 min)

The Smart Grid Interoperability Learning Modules are short (less than 20-minute) videos for state utility commissions on the economics of interoperability, operational considerations for interoperability, and roles and responsibilities of state regulators.

• How Interoperability Supports Policy Objectives – September 10-12, 2019 (10 min)
• Minnesota Updates Interconnection Standards – September 10-12, 2019 (3 min)
• Michigan Leverages ZigBee Standards – September 10-12, 2019 (7 min)
• Economic Value of Interoperability and Standards – September 10-12, 2019 (9 min)
• Utilities Working with Suppliers on New Technologies and Interoperability – September 10-12, 2019 (10 min)
• What is Interoperability? – September 10-12, 2019 (17 min)
• Interoperability: Standards, Profiles, and Testing & Certification – September 10-12, 2019 (11 min)
• Example of Standards Development and Adoption – September 10-12, 2019 (7 min)
• Interoperability Is a Team Sport – September 10-12, 2019 (5 min)
• Interoperability Strategic Roadmap – September 10-12, 2019 (6 min)
• Ecosystem Interoperability Roadmap Process – September 10-12, 2019 (13 min)
• Introduction to Communications Networks – September 2021 (11 min)
• Overview of Interoperability in Grid Modernization and the NIST Smart Grid Framework – September 2021 (8 min)
• Benefits of Smart Grid Interoperability – September 2021 (9 min)
• NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards – September 2021 (9 min)
• Introduction to Smart Grid Interoperability Testing and Certification and Interoperability Profiles – September 2021 (8 min)
• Introduction to EV Interoperability Profile Use Case – September 2021 (4 min)
• Question-and-Answer with Avi Gopstein (NIST) on EVSE Interoperability– September 2021 (6 min)
• Electric Vehicle Managed Charging Interoperability Profile – September 2021 (7 min)
• Profile Development for Electric Vehicle Managed Charging (Smart Inverters) – September 2021 (6 min)
• Electric Vehicle Managed Charging Interoperability Profile Use Case – September 2021 (11 min)
• Question-and-Answer with Cuong Nguyen (NIST) on EVSE Interoperability – September 2021 (23 min)

Through NARUC and the National Council on Electricity Policy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory offered four training sessions for utility commissioners, state energy officials, state legislators, air agency officials, and utility consumer advocates. Participants learned: (1) What modeling tools and methods are available to plan distribution and bulk power systems with distributed energy resources (DERs), including comprehensive planning approaches. (2) How utilities analyze utility-scale and distributed storage in integrated resource planning, ways state officials can review the analysis and how to improve evaluation of energy storage planning. (3) How to assess technical and economic impacts of DERs for distribution and bulk power systems, and what changes are needed in load forecasting. (4) Ways to improve planning throughout the electricity system in the face of climate change.

• Tools and Methods for Distribution System Planning with Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) – October 2021 (42 min)
• Modeling Tool Integration for Comprehensive Electricity Planning – October 2021 (48 min)
• State of the Art Practices for Modeling Storage in Integrated Resource Planning – October 2021 (1hr 29min)
• Sequential Integrated Analysis of DERs in Distribution and Bulk Power Systems – October 2021 (52 min)
• Energy Efficiency and Demand Response as Resource Options in Bulk Power System Planning – October 2021 (51 min)
• Load Forecasting with Climate Variability for Transmission and Distribution system planning – October 2021 (49 min)
• Resource, Asset, and Contingency Planning with Climate Variability – October 2021 (46 min)