Getting the Lead out of Telecom

Communications companies originally protected their cables by covering them with lead sheaths. A recent Wall Street Journal article noted that as they have aged, these cables are leaking lead into the environment, particularly where the cables are underwater. This session will review and examine how commissions can address this potential environmental and health problem. 

Let's Break Some Silos: Integrated Rate Making for Residential DER Management

As utilities deploy various Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) technologies to enable increasingly sophisticated optimization of distributed energy resources (DERs), how can utilities and regulators consider approving ratemaking for these systems in a holistic, rather than siloed, fashion? Before deciding on whether a DERMS solution for managed EV charging is supported by demand response, transportation electrification, or DER program budgets, should regulators first consider the desired end-results in coordination with other initiatives? This panel will explore how utility commissions can, through integrated ratemaking and rate design, foster a whole-home approach to DER management that offers a simplified and streamlined experience to consumers

Building the Line in Time: Reimagining Transmission Development Processes

The rapidly changing resource fleet necessitates a profound acceleration of new transmission development and therefore significant improvements to transmission planning processes. This panel will explore new opportunities to plan and build transmission to bring new resources online quickly and cost-effectively, including how state agencies can work together with ISOs and others to tighten the linkages between resource planning, transmission planning, resource procurement, and interconnection. The panel will also explore the benefits and drawbacks to interstate versus local transmission solutions, and how these solutions play a role in facilitating the energy transition. 

New Demands for a Limited Supply; Getting Water Balance Right

The Earth might seem like it has abundant water, but in fact less than 1 percent is available for human use. The rest is either ocean salt water, fresh water frozen in the polar ice caps, or too inaccessible for access to be practical.? Society requires multiple uses. Aside from the average 300 gallons a day per US family, water is also used to grow our food, manufacture our favorite goods, mine for crucial minerals/metals, fight fires, and keep businesses running smoothly. ?We also use a significant amount of water to meet the nation's energy needs Many current uses introduce or increase the levels of nitrates or other contaminants in runoff and wastewater discharge.? This panel will explore how water resources are being allocated or reallocated across regions and uses; what creative strategies and new uses may address the challenges of a sometime limited supply.

NARUC Grid Data Sharing Framework Simulation, first half (100-person limit, separate registration)

Following four collaborative workshops in 2022 and 2023 among utility commissions, cybersecurity experts, utilities, and DER developers / advocates, NARUC has developed a grid data sharing framework, playbook, and example use cases. The Grid Data Sharing Framework is intended to help commissions and interested parties effectively address questions related to sharing grid data (not personal information or individual consumption data) and to provide a basis for regulatory decision making. The framework represents a collection of 7 key categories of topical considerations that provide useful inputs to grid data sharing decisions by Commissions. Each jurisdiction can tailor the framework to fit its own decision-making processes. The Playbook provides a detailed explanation of the Grid Data Sharing Framework and offers implementation guidance to assist state commissions and interested stakeholders in its use. Three use cases are included: Improving DER Interconnection, Enabling Flee Vehicle Electrification, and Allowing DER to Provide Grid Services. 

The simulation workshop will be an opportunity to demonstrate, and test drive the framework in a no-stakes, interactive environment. Due to space constraints, only 100 attendees can participate. All attendees must commit to staying for the full 2-hour workshop; this is not a typical session.  

Connecting the Unconnected: Is there a Future for Universal Service?

Congress has recently requested input on the telecommunications universal service fund, including questions on State responsibilities, limiting waste and abuse, and providing on-going support.  NARUC and a number of states have filed comments in this inquiry, citing the importance of state cops on the beat.  This panel will review the status of the USF and review how this may change in the future. 

Update on U.S. LNG Exports—Supporting Global Partners and Understanding Domestic Growth Opportunities

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent reverberations throughout global energy markets and demonstrated, once again, the importance of energy security. Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas created a potential crisis for the continent that was averted, in part, by the ability of U.S natural gas producers and LNG exporters to significantly increase LNG exports to Europe. Unfortunately, construction of new LNG terminals is a long and complicated process with risks of delays and cancellations, which can result in import infrastructure bottleneck. This panel will provide State Commissioners and Staff with an update on the state of American LNG exports over the past year, share information on the status of proposed LNG terminals around the U.S., and highlight process considerations that are impacting LNG terminal approvals and construction. 

NARUC Grid Data Sharing Framework Simulation, second half (100-person limit, separate registration)

Following four collaborative workshops in 2022 and 2023 among utility commissions, cybersecurity experts, utilities, and DER developers / advocates, NARUC has developed a grid data sharing framework, playbook, and series of use cases. The simulation workshop will be an opportunity to demonstrate, and test drive the framework in a no-stakes, interactive environment. Due to space constraints, only 100 attendees can participate. All attendees must commit to staying for the full 2-hour workshop; this is not a typical session. See session B1 to register. 

Breach of Personal Information: Notification, Laws, and Ethical Responsibility

The Federal government and all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have security breach notification laws that require businesses and now government agencies to notify consumers or citizens if their personal information is breached.  This course will discuss the laws now imposed on Federal and State governments, what defines personal information (PI), and the duties and ethical treatment of personal information by government agencies. 

 What types of personal information (PI) are defined by these laws? 

 What duties do these laws impose upon the government agency?   

 Who in the government agency determines if a breach has occurred? 

Government agencies must report a breach within a specific time frame.   

Responsibilities of outside contractors working for the government agency.  

What provisions must the agency include in the contract to cover a contractor’s duties and responsibilities if a breach occurs? 

 Requirements of government agency to notify persons affected by breach of personal information. 

 How should affected persons be notified? 

Measuring What Matters: How Regulators Can Leverage Multi-Metric Resource Adequacy Framework

Resource adequacy modeling and reliability assessment frameworks are evolving to better capture the changing nature of the electric system.  Reliability risks are shifting with extreme climate and transitioning grid, a new resource adequacy planning framework is more crucial than ever. As technical experts continue to grapple with how to best reform resource adequacy modeling approaches, it is important that regulators stay apprised of these developments.  Regulators should continue to insist on improved planning methods that more accurately capture a wide array of reliability risks.  A growing number of industry experts are exploring advanced resource adequacy frameworks that leverage multiple metrics to evaluate power systems’ ability to minimize various outage events while balancing costs. Panelists will discuss the motivation behind multi-metric analysis and explore how regulators can leverage this approach to create a more holistic understanding of resource adequacy in the systems they regulate, as well as the potential reliability impacts of regulatory decisions.      

Understanding Energy Insecurity

As of 2020, more than 30 million U.S. households were energy insecure.  But what is energy insecurity and what can be done about it? The Energy Insecurity Initiative, a partnership between the Energy Bar Association and Columbia University, aims to improve public understanding of energy insecurity. The panelists will share their findings for each of the Initiative’s main research topics: utility disconnections and shutoffs; low-income assistance programs; energy efficiency and weatherization; and access to clean energy and electrification.  Together, the panelists will draw connections across the four research topics to diagnose the causes of energy insecurity and identify policy frameworks that have addressed these obstacles. 

Hero or Villain: The Potential Roles of AI For Energy Resilience

This panel explores the multifaceted impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the oversight and regulation of vital energy distribution systems and critical infrastructure. AI has emerged as a powerful tool with the potential to revolutionize these sectors, offering unprecedented efficiency, reliability, and sustainability benefits.
 
On one hand, AI-driven technologies have the potential to play the hero by enhancing the monitoring, maintenance, and optimization of energy grids and vital infrastructure, thus ensuring uninterrupted services and reducing environmental footprints. Conversely, they also pose the risk of becoming villains if not properly regulated, potentially leading to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, job displacement, and algorithmic biases.
 
This panel brings together experts to delve into the intricate balance regulators must strike between harnessing AI's potential for the greater good and safeguarding against potential pitfalls. It offers valuable insights into the regulatory frameworks and ethical considerations required to ensure AI remains a force for good in the management of energy distribution and critical infrastructure.

PS - this abstract was written using AI.

Moderator:

Hon. Mary-Anna Holden, New Jersey

Earth, Wind, and Fire: Tracking Progress Toward Climate Resilience

A review of electric utility grid plans reveals that the utilities serving cities that have experienced catastrophic losses to infrastructure due to climate change-amplified phenomena are, in most cases, implementing climate resilience and adaptation actions faster than others who have not. How can all utilities and essential services providers be supported in moving more quickly from studying problems to action before disaster strikes? Drawing insights from NARUC’s Energy Resilience Reference Guide and several guidance documents highlighted by the Initiative on Climate Risk & Resilience Law (ICRRL), panelists will share resilience and adaptation best practices, including anonymized real-world examples. Experts will also introduce a maturity model (in development) that illuminates and tracks progress in six performance categories: Governance, Climate-Aware Planning, Active Stakeholder and Community Collaboration, Resilience and Adaptation Actions to Date, Customer Engagement and Coordination, and Attention to Equity. 

From Isolation to Cooperation: Incorporating Regional Solutions in State Commission Proceedings

Most electric systems are planned and operated across multiple states, yet integrated resource plans (IRPs) and rate cases rarely examine reliability impacts beyond state lines. Decisions on resource additions and retirements siloed in a single state ultimately have regional, and even interconnection-wide implications. Potential obstacles include: historical frameworks that considered utilities and states individually and in isolation from neighboring states and regions; regulatory gaps between state and federal jurisdiction; and varying planning horizons among others. These challenges are particularly evident as more states strive to meet aggressive clean energy goals, often involving the retirement of non-qualifying resources, while leveraging qualifying resources to serve in-state load. This panel will begin with an overview of current state decarbonization plans, including projected generation additions and retirements. Experts will then discuss strategies to increase the degree to which individual state resource decisions are coordinated with neighboring states to address regional reliability impacts and corresponding solutions.