10:45 a.m. - 11: 45 a.m.

Business Meeting

Introductions and state action discussion

Roundtable exchange on future committee planning

Resolutions

100% Clean Energy: What Comes Next for Regulators?

Joint Panel with the Committee on Electricity

More and more States, cities, utilities, and corporations are passing laws and setting targets and goals for achieving "100%" clean, carbon-free, or renewable energy as the long-term expectation for meeting electricity needs. This panel will seek to describe the trend and begin to explore implications for regulators, including:

• Where and why is this trend occurring?
• What are the common elements and differences across the "100%" goals and policies?
• How do the policies consider and impact costs, rate regulation and regulatory process?

Moderator:

Leia Guccione, Principal, Electricity Program, Rocky Mountain Institute

Speakers:

Hon. James Griffin, Hawaii

Jeff Lyng, Director of Energy and Environmental Policy, Xcel Energy Colorado

Sandra Mattavous-Frye  People's Counsel, DC Office of the People’s Counsel

100% Clean Energy: What Comes Next for Markets and the Grid?

Joint Panel with the Committee on Electricity

Many States have developed aggressive targets for renewable and carbon-free energy resource procurement while retiring legacy generation. This panel will begin to explore implications for markets and the grid, including:

• What are the challenges for States, cities, and utilities getting to 100%?
• How do solutions vary across regions, resources, and regulatory and market structures?
• To what extent do 100% policies incorporate grid considerations, such as reliability? 
• What market structures are necessary for this transition?

Moderator: 

Debbie Lew 

Speakers: 

Armond Cohen, Executive Director, Clean Air Task Force

W. Mason Emnett, Vice President, Competitive Market Policy, Exelon Corporation

John Moore, Director, Sustainable FERC Project, Climate & Clean Energy Program, NRDC

Revisiting Paradigms for Decision-Making About Customer Side Resources

To take full advantage of energy efficiency, demand response, and other distributed and behind the meter resources, states and Commissions need to revisit and update their resource evaluation assumptions, methodologies, and practices. Traditional screening tests presented in the California Standard Practice Manual may not capture the range of costs and benefits that are important to a particular jurisdiction, resulting in under investment in efficiency and demand side resources. Often, different standards are used to determine “cost-effectiveness” for different resources or in different dockets. For example, some states use a different standard for screening costs and benefits in an Integrated Resource Planning process versus energy efficiency planning. This panel will explore how cost-effectiveness tests can be revised to be consistent with state’s energy policy goals, fully capture the benefits of all resources, and to fairly compare behind the meter and in front of the meter investments. The panel will also identify how different Commissions approaching this challenge?

Moderator: Hon. Mary Throne, Wyoming

Panelists:

Hon. Abigail Anthony, Rhode Island

Tanuj Deora, Vice President Market Development, Simple Energy

Julie Michals, Director of Clean Energy Valuation, E4TheFuture

Deborah Reynolds, Assistant Director, Conservation and Energy Planning, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission

10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

State Journeys in NEM and DER Rate Reform: A Long and Winding Road

NEM and DER rate reforms are underway in many, many states. This panel provides a high-level summary of those actions across the country, and takes a deep-dive look into how those issues are being addressed in key states. The session explores the sets of major decisions that Commissions are being asked to make about next-generation tariffs for DER, and asks the state representatives to tell us the most important lessons they have learned through their efforts to date.

Co-Moderators:

Hon. Michael Richard, Maryland 

Hon. Lillian Mateo-Santos, Puerto Rico 

Panelists:

Hon. Joseph Fiordaliso, New Jersey

Hon. David Ober, Indiana

Hon. Kimberly O'Guinn, Arkansas

Tom Stanton, Principal Researcher for Energy and Environment, National Regulatory Research Institute

Creative Momentum Class for Today and Tomorrow: DERs are Changing Everything

Got your crystal ball? Rapid advances in consumer technology and shifting consumer preferences are changing the kinds of grid services and product offerings that regulated utilities can and will be offering their customers. These changes are converging with public policy goals targeting clean energy, including decarbonization and its close cousin beneficial electricification. These broad trends of decentralization, connectivity, and automation are poised to fundamentally change the characteristics of utility industries. How might state commissions move forward into this new terrain? How are utilities assessing the paths that lie before them? Are there hidden roadblocks that must be addressed?  How have different states navigated such decisions?

Co-Moderators:

Hon. Lillian Mateo-Santos, Puerto Rico

Hon. Michael Richard, Maryland 

Panelists:

Cameron Brooks, President, Tolerable Planet Enterprises

Michael Delaney, Executive Director Regulatory Affairs and Policy, Consumers Energy, Co.

Anne Hoskins, Chief Policy Officer, Sunrun, Inc.

There’s a Major Change Headed Our Way: Forecasting DERs for Planning Purposes

As more attention moves to the distribution grid and the role that distributed energy resources (DERs) can play in meeting customers’ energy needs, it is imperative for utilities to plan for those resources---many of which will be installed without the kind of centralized planning and control typical for integrated resource planning (IRP)-style resources. Planning for DERs (often through distribution system planning [DSP] or integrated distribution planning [IDP]) includes predicting where the resources will be located, forecasting which kinds of resources will be installed, and calculating load shapes of those resources. This type of forecasting is an evolving field, drawing upon market segmentation practices, predictive analytics, and advanced modeling supported by major computing power. This panel will share innovations in DER forecasting being developed and deployed to date, discussing the abilities and limitations of current approaches.

Moderator:

Hon. Jeffery Ackermann, Colorado

Panelists:

Juliet Homer, Senior Energy Research Engineer, Energy Policy and Economics Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Kevin Kushman, President, Integral Analytics, Inc.

Patrick McCoy, Distributed Energy Strategy, Grid Strategy and Operations, Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Bringing the Renewable Heat: How Renewable Natural Gas Market Dynamics Are “Burning Up” Preconceived Notions of Traditional Regulatory Structures and Planning

Joint with the Committee on Gas

The speed at which RNG markets continue to move make it increasingly difficult to match with traditional notions of integrated resource planning, procurement, and cost effectiveness analytical frameworks. Not to mention, legislatures are warming up to the idea of renewable thermal portfolio standards, incentives, and carbon reduction strategies that continue to drive these markets into unchartered territory. This panel of experts will discuss how regulators can approach these market developments to ensure that their states are prepared to take advantage of this rapidly developing resource. Panelists will discuss strategies and tools that allow customers to take advantage of RNG offerings, including the developing voluntary and compliance markets.

Co-Moderators:

Hon. Megan Decker, Oregon

Hon. Mary-Anna Holden, New Jersey

Panelists:

Ben Gerber, Executive Director, Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System, Inc.

Zach Kravitz, Director, Rates & regulatory Affairs, NW Natural

Tanya Peacock, Public Policy and Planning Manager, Southern California Gas Company

McKenzie Schwartz, Analyst, Gas Utility of the Future, National Grid