CPI Publications

November 13, 2023
Resource Adequacy for State Utility Regulators: Current Practices and Emerging Reforms: This report was developed by staff in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Center for Partnerships and Innovation (CPI). Additional support was provided from commissioners, commission staff, and other technical experts to provide foundational information for state utility regulators on the evolving nature of resource adequacy for the electric system. With the changing nature of the system, state commissioners will continue to play a vital role in their respective jurisdictions. Their roles in overseeing resource decisions are growing in complexity, with consideration for customer costs, state and federal environmental requirements, extreme weather events, fuel supply limitations, generation retirements, shifting requirements for system operators, and growing levels of intermittent and energy-limited resources (e.g., wind, solar, and battery storage). Reliability concerns continue to be an urgent and immediate priority for utility regulators in most parts of the United States. The information in this report is designed to support state commissioners and their respective staff members as they navigate an evolving resource adequacy landscape to maintain reliability amidst a rapidly changing system.

November 8, 2023
Grid Data Sharing Playbook: In 2022, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) launched an initiative to support its members in addressing issues related to grid data sharing. The Grid Data Sharing Collaborative was funded by the DOE’s Office of Electricity and Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER). NARUC invited programmatic, policy, technical, and cybersecurity subject matter experts from public utility commissions, utilities, non-governmental organizations, energy service companies, and DOE to join the two-year Grid Data Sharing Collaborative to help develop a flexible framework for states to use as a starting point when navigating complex decision-making inherent in grid data sharing. The framework took shape through a series of intensive workshops during which Collaborative participants explored illustrative use cases to identify data needs, articulate the benefits and risks of sharing such data, and assess the trade-offs. Along the way, participants offered suggestions for how the framework could be used in practice. The purpose of this playbook is to describe the elements of the Grid Data Sharing Framework and to begin supporting its implementation.

November 9, 2023
Guidebook for Federal Funding Opportunities: BIL, IRA, Disaster Preparedness, and Community Resilience: The United States is making historic investments in infrastructure resilience and renewal through legislation such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The goal of the Guidebook is to equip regulators to evaluate how federal funding opportunities might best serve ratepayer interests and state objectives.

February 13, 2023
Energy Resilience Reference Guide for State Utility Regulators Chapter Two: Developing a Shared Framework to Value Resilience Investments: Highlights key themes around creating a value of resilience framework and share current efforts at the state-level at incorporating these frameworks into practice.

October 31, 2023
Energy Resilience Reference Guide for State Utility Regulators Chapter Three: Climate Resilience Strategies for Regulators: Highlights key themes and regulatory considerations for addressing energy system resilience for specific climate-related threats.

June 13, 2022
Energy Resilience Reference Guide for State Utility Regulators Chapter One: Developing a Shared Definition of Energy Resilience: Highlights challenges pertaining to differences in definitions of resilience and encourages state public utility commissions to develop a shared language around the concept of energy resilience.

November 8, 2023
Fusion Centers and State Energy Stakeholders: Pathways to Robust Threat Information Sharing: This mini guide explores the current landscape of threat information sharing between fusion centers and state energy stakeholders. Based on interviews with a sampling of key stakeholders, from public utility commissions (PUCs), state energy offices (SEOs), state offices of emergency management (OEMs), and fusion centers, the mini guide highlights areas of successful practice, current challenges, and areas of potential improvements.

November 11, 2022
Grid Data Sharing: Brief Summary of State Practices: Grid Data Sharing: Brief Summary of State Practices

November 6, 2023
Nuclear Generation in Long-Term Utility Resource Planning: A Review of Integrated Resource Plans and Considerations for State Utility Regulators: This report begins with an overview of Integrated Resource Plans and existing and advanced nuclear energy (Sections I and II). Section III reviews inclusions of advanced nuclear in selected recently filed IRPs. Section IV offers questions and considerations for public utility regulators.

October 31, 2023
Energy Resilience Reference Guide - Access to all chapters: “Resilience” is increasingly used as a catch-all term to describe numerous aspects within energy policy. Newly appointed or elected Commissioners and commission staff are expected to quickly develop expertise around resilience topics that are complex and multifaceted. Envisioned as a sweeping foundational-level resource, the guide will cover a range of energy resilience topics presented in chapter form. Chapters will be released over time, each highlighting emerging best practices on a specific resilience topic, profiling individual state efforts at enhancing system resilience, spotlighting contributions from subject matter experts, and summarizing key regulatory considerations for energy system resilience.

August 17, 2023
State Microgrid Policy, Programmatic, and Regulatory Framework: NARUC-NASEO Microgrids State Working Group

June 20, 2023
Clean Energy Microgrids: Considerations for State Energy Offices and Public Utility Commissions to Increase Resilience, Reduce Emissions, and Improve Affordability: This report, Clean Energy Microgrids: Considerations for State Energy Offices and Public Utility Commissions to Increase Resilience, Reduce Emissions, and Improve Affordability, focuses specifically on how clean energy microgrids can achieve both resilience and clean energy benefits. The paper provides an overview of the challenges faced by clean energy microgrids, outlines benefits that clean energy microgrids can provide, and details economic and cost considerations for the development of clean energy microgrid projects. Outlined in the paper are the necessary technological components of a clean energy microgrid, including generation, storage, energy efficiency measures, and smart controls. Current technologies are highlighted, along with potential configurations of clean technologies that are approaching cost competitiveness with commercially available options. The paper concludes with both policy and regulatory considerations for State Energy Offices and Public Utility Commissions to enhance the development and deployment of clean energy microgrids. Although it touches on the clean energy microgrids’ role in integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) into the larger grid, this is not the focus of this paper.

July 11, 2023
EV Getting Started Guide 2023: NARUC members are increasingly seeking more information about electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure needs, impacts, and the role of Public Utility Commissions (PUCs). This Getting Started Guide connects commissioners and staff to essential EV resources that the NARUC Center for Partnerships and Innovation (CPI) has developed. All of these resources can be found on the NARUC CPI EV webpage. NARUC CPI hosts an Electric Vehicles State Working Group (EV SWG), which is open to all NARUC members and holds monthly meetings on utility regulatory topics related to transportation electrification. For more information, or to join the working group, please contact Robert Bennett, rbennett@naruc.org, or Danielle Sass Byrnett, dbyrnett@naruc.org.

June 27, 2023
Onshore U.S. Carbon Pipeline Deployment: Siting, Safety, and Regulation, June 2023: Report by NARUC and authored by Public Sector Consultants exploring barriers and opportunities for the deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage technology.

February 9, 2023
State Energy Justice Roundtable Series: Energy Justice Metrics: State Energy Justice Roundtable Series: Energy Justice Metrics by Jasmine McAdams, Feb 2023

May 5, 2023
NARUC-NASEO Nuclear Resource Repository: Periodically updated list of reports on nuclear energy generation curated by NARUC and NASEO

November 10, 2022
Electric Vehicle Interoperability Considerations for Public Utility Regulators: Electric Vehicle Interoperability Considerations for Public Utility Regulators. An addendum to the NARUC report, Electric Vehicles: Key Trends, Issues, and Considerations for State Regulators (2019)

November 10, 2022
Models for Incorporating Equity in Transportation Electrification Considerations for Public Utility Regulators: Models for Incorporating Equity in Transportation Electrification Considerations for Public Utility Regulators. An addendum to the NARUC report, Electric Vehicles: Key Trends, Issues, and Considerations for State Regulators (2019)

September 29, 2022
Financial Toolbox Summary Brief on Electrification: May 26, 2022 Financial Toolbox Summary Brief on Electrification

September 29, 2022
LMI Community Solar Toolbox brief: LMI Community Solar Toolbox brief

December 21, 2022
Digitalization in Electric Power Systems and Regulation: A Primer: This report defines grid digitalization, provides concrete examples, and assesses five elements of digital systems that have evolved over the past three decades relevant to the electric distribution system: network interconnection, interoperability, modularity, open source, and automation. This report also discusses the benefits and challenges of digitalization and provides a set of actions regulators can take to support the transition and realize the benefits of the transition.

November 11, 2022
NCEP Mini Guide on Transportation Electrification: State-Level Roles and Collaboration among Public Utility Commissions, State Energy Offices, and Departments of Transportation: NCEP Mini Guide on Transportation Electrification: State-Level Roles and Collaboration among Public Utility Commissions, State Energy Offices, and Departments of Transportation. The National Council on Electricity Policy (NCEP) is a platform for all state-level electricity decision makers to share and learn from diverse perspectives on the evolving electricity sector. The NCEP mini guide series promotes this dialogue by highlighting examples of successful engagement across its members. Each mini guide features collaborative approaches, lessons learned, and interviews with leading state and local decision makers.

November 11, 2022
Regulators’ Financial Toolbox: Considerations in Evaluating ADMS/DERMS Investments: On October 12, 2022, NARUC presented a Regulators’ Financial Toolbox Webinar on ADMS/DERMS. The webinar featured remarks from moderator Vice Chair Joseph Sullivan, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission; Chris Villarreal of Plugged in Strategies on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); Ali Ipakchi, Executive Vice President, Open Access Technology International, Inc. (OATI); Ted Burhans, Director of DER Technology, Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA); and Commissioner Katherine Peretick of the Michigan Public Service Commission. The panel and this accompanying brief address: • Defining ADMS/DERMS • Deploying ADMS/DERMS • Utility Perspectives on DERMS • State Snapshot: Michigan • Regulatory Consideration of ADMS/DERMS

February 9, 2023
State Energy Justice Roundtable Series: Customer Affordability and Arrearages: State Energy Justice Roundtable Series: Customer Affordability and Arrearages by William McCurry. February 2023

October 28, 2022
Defense Energy Resilience Supporting FAQs for Commissioners: The FAQ was derived from a series of interviews with state commissioners who have engaged DoD partners in the past. Questions are intended for both internal PUC use as well as suggested questions a commission may wish to ask their regulated utilities.

February 8, 2023
Mini Guide on PUCs and the Investment Community: Opportunities for Engagement: Mini Guide on PUCs and the Investment Community: Opportunities for Engagement

February 9, 2023
State Energy Justice Roundtable Series: Participation in Decision Making: State Energy Justice Roundtable Series: Participation in Decision Making by Tanya Paslawski. Feb 2023

December 21, 2022
Considering Interoperability for Electric Vehicle Charging: A Commission Case Study: As adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) increases across the United States and charging equipment to power vehicles is installed, the electricity system, states, utilities, EV manufacturers, EV supply equipment (EVSE) manufacturers, and stakeholders are grappling with how to ensure smooth integration of these resources. Interoperability ensures that communication, coordination, and integration of devices, such as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), are integrated efficiently and effectively.

December 13, 2022
Potential State Regulatory Pathways to Facilitate Low-Carbon Fuels: States and the federal government are increasingly engaged in the challenges around decarbonizing the electric grid. In particular, regulators, consumers, stakeholders, and utilities recognize the need to carefully consider the role natural gas will play in a decarbonized future. A variety of technology and policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with natural gas use are available, including energy efficiency programs, demand reduction tools, strategic electrification, and strategies to reduce emissions from natural gas production, transportation, and consumption.

September 30, 2022
Workforce Development Toolbox: This toolbox contains editable content for PUCs to tailor and use in their workforce recruitment activities.

August 25, 2022
Nuclear Energy as a Keystone Clean Energy Resource: Since the first wave of nuclear retirements was announced in 2016, states have started to recognize the value of the carbon-free electricity nuclear power plants provide and the complementary role these plants can play to the intermittent renewable resources of wind and solar. Currently, 13 states have legally enforceable Clean Energy Standards (CES), which require a large amount of their electricity to come from carbon-free electric generating resources, including nuclear. Furthermore, four states include direct financial support through power purchase agreements or zero-emission credits (ZECs) to nuclear power plants, helping to offset some of the financial distress low wholesale power prices have brought to nuclear power plant owners.

February 1, 2022
Energy Emergency and Preparedness Data: FAQs ad Quick Guidance on Crisis Communications: Reference guide that describes tactics for developing or enhancing Crisis Communications capabilities with PUCs and State Energy Offices.

August 16, 2022
Compendium of Cyber Incident Notification Requirements for Critical Infrastructure Utilities by State: Detailed list of states who require utilities to report cybersecurity incidents.

July 14, 2022
Enhancing Grid Reliability through Demand Response Surge Call summary: On June 24, 2022, NARUC facilitated a state commission staff “surge” call on enhancing grid reliability through demand response (DR). The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2022 Summer Reliability Assessment identifies heightened reliability risks for the summer, particularly for the Midcontinental and Western U.S., as the regions are faced with widespread drought, heat, wildfires, and extreme peak demand. In order to avoid capacity shortfalls, grid operators may need to employ mitigating actions such as demand response to reduce or shift consumer electricity usage. This assessment underscores the increasingly important role of demand-side management (DSM) to help ensure grid reliability in a changing climate. During this surge call, commission staff from Maryland, Nevada, and Rhode Island will share their perspectives on the administration of demand response programs in their states, approaches to engaging customers, and lessons learned and opportunities for the future.

January 10, 2022
State Approaches to Intervenor Compensation: Intervenor compensation is the practice of reimbursing individuals or groups for the costs of their involvement in state utility regulatory proceedings. These groups advocate for views and issues that may otherwise not be introduced into the proceeding by the utility, large customers, state utility consumer advocates, attorneys general offices, or others. Programs have been developed in several states to encourage participation at all stages of proceedings before the state Commissions where the costs to intervene would otherwise create a financial hardship. This paper reviews the states with legislative authorization for intervenor compensation, the states with active intervenor compensation programs, and provides insights on program implementation through several case studies.

April 11, 2022
Draft Microgrid Framework - NASEO-NARUC Microgrids State Working Group: Draft Microgrid Framework - NASEO-NARUC Microgrids State Working Group

March 29, 2022
Mini Guide on Engagement between States and Regional Transmission Organizations: Mini Guide on Engagement between States and Regional Transmission Organizations

February 11, 2022
Valuing Resilience for Microgrids: Challenges, Innovative Approaches, and State Needs: The United States depends on the delivery of reliable, affordable, clean, and safe electricity. Electric utilities invest billions of dollars each year in generation, transmission, and distribution assets to meet this need. However, experiences with recent natural disasters of increasing frequency and duration demonstrate the shortcomings of this approach in the face of modern threats. Further, as customers rely on electricity for a broader range of important needs, such as transportation, as well as critical life-saving services and mission critical facilities such as water treatment, medical care, shelters, telecommunications, and more, the need to minimize the likelihood and impacts of outages grows. Against this backdrop, resilience has emerged as a key consideration to guide electricity spending, whether from utilities, customers, or taxpayers. Although reliability has been defined and measured for decades with broadly accepted metrics that measure how many customers lose power and at what frequency and duration, resilience considers the electricity system’s response to a disruption and its subsequent impacts on customers. Developing tools and methods to accurately assess the costs and benefits of resilience investments is a critical step toward the goal of mitigating the impacts of outages on customers and society.

February 9, 2022
NCEP Mini Guide on on Transmission Siting: State Agency Decision Making: NCEP Mini Guide on on Transmission Siting: State Agency Decision Making

December 20, 2021
Issue Brief: Log4j Vulnerability: This one-page brief explains the recently discovered Log4j vulnerability, which may affect critical infrastructure entities.

October 27, 2021
Lessons Learned from the Ongoing Response to the COVID-19 Crisis: A final lessons learned report from the Emergency Preparedness, Recovery, and Resiliency Task Force's Subcommittee on COVID-19. The report details key lessons learned for state commissions from the ongoing response to the COVID-19 crisis. The scope of the analysis includes workforce issues, changing business practices, low- to moderate-income customer impact, regulatory responses, utility financial approaches to pandemic response, and other key challenges.

December 17, 2021
Think Microgrid Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Overview: NARUC-NASEO Microgrids State Working Group

January 7, 2022
NCEP Mini Guide: Public Utilities Commissions and Consumer Advocates: Protecting the Public Interest: This mini guide describes the overlap and distinction between PUCs and CAs, examines the current and emerging state of engagement between the two parties, and offers ideas for how relationships can be strengthened based on the experiences of PUCs and CAs. To inform the paper, the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) conducted interviews with commissioners, commission staff, and consumer advocates (from state agencies and nonprofits) who have experience working with their counterparts.

October 25, 2021
Federal Funding Opportunities Guidebook: A key resource guide detailing available federal funding opportunities for resilience and disaster recovery investments. The Guidebook highlights federal funding program eligibility, reporting requirements, and key regulatory takeaways.

November 5, 2021
Black Sky Subcommittee Use Cases: The intent of the Use Cases document is to amplify themes, challenges, and needs identified in the group’s Needs Assessment deliverable. Each identified scenario examines particular shortcomings identified in the Needs Assessment.

October 27, 2021
Regulatory Considerations for Utility Investment in Defense Energy Resilience: A white paper detailing the regulatory considerations for utility investment in defense critical electric infrastructure, shares the Department of Defense energy resilience policy landscape, and describes processes by which state utility regulators can engage with defense community partners to enhance defense systems resiliency.

October 27, 2021
The Role of State Utility Regulators in a Just and Reasonable Energy Transition: Examining Regulatory Approaches to the Economic Impacts of Coal Retirements: The ongoing trend of coal retirements has disproportionately affected the socioeconomic health of communities where power plants are located. For many public utility commissions, these impacts have led to important questions around the scope of PUCs’ statutory authority to analyze, consider and mitigate losses to host communities within their role as utility regulators. Due largely to variations in state legislative charges, commissions have taken different approaches to articulating what lies within the public interest. This report examines the authority of PUCs across the country to consider non-energy economic impacts beyond direct ratepayer effects, and summarizes approaches that PUCs, utilities and other stakeholders have used to mitigate the economic fallout of coal retirements, specifically.

October 21, 2021
Coal and Carbon Management Guidebook: Coal-to-Hydrogen Opportunities and Challenges: This guidebook provides a detailed outlook of the opportunities and challenges for coal and biomass resources and infrastructure to participate in the growing low-carbon hydrogen economy. It also outlines the present and forecasted market demand for hydrogen, addresses how state utility regulators can analyze and manage risks associated with low-carbon hydrogen technologies and summarizes DOE’s investments in research and development for hydrogen production from coal and biomass.

October 27, 2021
Regulators' Energy Transition Primer: Economic Impacts of the Energy Transition on Energy Communities, Environmental Justice Considerations, and the Implications on Clean Energy Jobs: The primer offers a background for NARUC members to understand how the transition from coal to low-carbon energy resources is affecting communities and workers. It also provides further discussion into the environmental, climate and energy justice considerations of the transition, as well as an overview of current federal programs and funding available to support affected communities.

July 3, 2019
Understanding Cybersecurity Preparedness: Questions for Utilities: Understanding Cybersecurity Preparedness: Questions for Utilities

NARUC Center for Partnerships & Innovation

CPI Publications