Staff Subcommittee on Consumers and the Public Interest
Staff Subcommittee on Critical Infrastructure
Staff Subcommittee on Electric Reliability and Resilience
Staff Subcommittee on Electricity
Staff Subcommittee on Energy Resources and the Environment
Staff Subcommittee on Rate Design
The 17th Annual Critical Consumer Issues Forum (CCIF) Kickoff will feature state commissioners, consumer advocates, and electric company representatives to introduce CCIF’s new energy-related topic (to be announced soon).
Separate registration required (no fees, but space limited): REGISTER HERE
Networking Breakfast: 8:30 – 9:30 AM (hot buffet sponsored by Edison Electric Institute)
Program: 9:30 – 11:15 AM (in collaboration with NARUC Staff Subcommittees)
Session is open:
TOPICS:
Consumers
Critical Infrastructure
Electric Reliability and Resilience
Electricity
Energy Resources and the Environment
Rate Design
Registration Open
Sunday, November 8
9:00am – 6:30pm
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
10:00am – 11:30am
Executive Committee
(Invitation Only)
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
10:30am – 11:30am
Staff Subcommittee on Gas
Staff Subcommittee on Water
Session is open:
New Commissioners Welcome Lunch
Sunday, November 8
11:30am – 12:30pm
(New Commissioners Only)
Session is open:
Lunch on Your Own
Sunday, November 8
11:30am – 1:30pm
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
12:30pm – 1:30pm
Washington Action Program
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Staff Subcommittee on Critical Infrastructure
Staff Subcommittee on Electric Reliability and Resilience
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Staff Subcommittee on Education and Research
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Staff Subcommittee on Pipeline Safety
Subcommittee on Pipeline Safety
Session is open:
What Replaces Copper
Sunday, November 8
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Staff Subcommittee on Telecommunications
As the Internet Protocol transition proceeds, several telecommunications service providers are seeking to abandon their copper facilities through FCC Section 214 applications, arguing that there are new replacement services that can provide telecommunications service to customers now served on copper facilities. In reviewing these petitions, state commissions have questioned whether the replacement services provide the same quality of service as traditional copper service. In this panel, participants will explore state experiences with these abandonment petitions and some of the service providers that have filed the petitions.
Session is open:
Coffee, Connections & Conversation
Sunday, November 8
2:00pm – 2:30pm
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
2:30pm – 3:30pm
Staff Subcommittee on Coal and Carbon Innovation
Subcommittee on Coal and Carbon Innovation
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
2:30pm – 3:30pm
Staff Subcommittee on Nuclear Energy
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
2:30pm – 3:30pm
Staff Subcommittee on Pipeline Safety
Subcommittee on Pipeline Safety
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
2:30pm – 3:30pm
Staff Subcommittee on Regulatory and Industry Diversity
Session is open:
Coffee, Connections & Conversation
Sunday, November 8
3:30pm – 4:00pm
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Staff Subcommittee on Electricity
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Staff Subcommittee on Energy Resources and the Environment
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Subcommittee on Nuclear Energy
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Staff Subcommittee on Rate Design
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Select Committee on Regulatory and Industry Diversity
Session is open:
Sunday, November 8
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Staff Subcommittee of Public Information Officers
Staff Subcommittee on Administrative Law Judges
Staff Subcommittee on Executive Management
Staff Subcommittee on Law
Session is open:
TOPICS:
Executive Management
Law
Welcome Reception
Sunday, November 8
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Session is open:
Monday, November 9
Commission Chairs Breakfast
Monday, November 9
7:45am – 8:45am
(Invitees Only)
Session is open:
Buenos Dias Break
Monday, November 9
8:30am – 9:00am
Session is open:
Registration Open
Monday, November 9
8:30am – 4:30pm
Session is open:
Business Meeting
Monday, November 9
9:00am – 10:00am
Committee on Electricity
Session is open:
Business Meeting
Monday, November 9
9:00am – 10:00am
Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment
Session is open:
Business Meeting
Monday, November 9
9:00am – 10:00am
Committee on Gas
Session is open:
Business Meeting
Monday, November 9
9:00am – 10:00am
Committee on Telecommunications
Session is open:
Buenos Dias Break
Monday, November 9
10:00am – 10:30am
Session is open:
Monday, November 9
10:30am – 11:30am
Committee on Consumers and the Public Interest
Session is open:
Monday, November 9
10:30am – 11:30am
Committee on Critical Infrastructure
Session is open:
Monday, November 9
10:30am – 11:30am
Committee on International Relations
Session is open:
Business Meeting
Monday, November 9
10:30am – 11:30am
Committee on Water
Session is open:
Lunch on Your Own
Monday, November 9
11:30am – 1:00pm
Session is open:
Opening General Session
Monday, November 9
1:00pm – 2:30pm
Welcome Remarks
President’s Reflections
NARUC President Ann Rendahl will look back on the past year, specifically focusing on her theme, Uniting Regulators: Harmonizing Impact, Advancing Reliable and Resilient Infrastructure.
Officer Elections
In Memoriam
Session is open:
Coffee, Connections & Conversation
Monday, November 9
2:30pm – 2:45pm
Session is open:
General Session
Monday, November 9
2:45pm – 4:00pm
Session is open:
Commissioner Emeritus Meeting
Monday, November 9
4:30pm – 5:30pm
(Commissioner Emeritus Only)
Session is open:
MACRUC
Monday, November 9
4:30pm – 5:30pm
(Invitees Only)
Session is open:
MARC
Monday, November 9
4:30pm – 5:30pm
(Invitees Only)
Session is open:
NECPUC
Monday, November 9
4:30pm – 5:30pm
(Invitees Only)
Session is open:
SEARUC
Monday, November 9
4:30pm – 5:30pm
(Invitees Only)
Session is open:
Western
Monday, November 9
4:30pm – 5:30pm
(Invitees Only)
Session is open:
Tuesday, November 10
Commissioners-Only Breakfast
Tuesday, November 10
7:45am – 8:45am
Session is open:
Registration Open
Tuesday, November 10
8:30am – 4:30pm
Session is open:
Buenos Dias Break
Tuesday, November 10
8:30am – 9:00am
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
9:00am – 10:00am
Session Number: A-1
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
9:00am – 10:00am
Session Number: A-2
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
9:00am – 10:00am
Session Number: A-3
Session is open:
Fortune Favors the 'DER-ing': Charting Distribution Interconnection's Next Chapter
Tuesday, November 10
9:00am – 10:00am
As distributed energy resource (DER) deployment grows, new models and solutions are needed to ensure DER interconnection practices are in place that are cost-effective, efficient, and timely. This session will highlight for attendees the emerging solutions currently proposed or adopted by state utility commissions, including group studies, updated integrated resource planning and distribution system planning techniques, smarter cost allocation for grid upgrades, proactive investments for EVs and other emerging loads, and technical and regulatory solutions to energy storage interconnection challenges.
Session Number: A-4
Session is open:
Buenos Dias Break
Tuesday, November 10
10:00am – 10:30am
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
10:30am – 11:30am
Session Number: B-2
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
10:30am – 11:30am
Session Number: B-3
Session is open:
Concurrent Session B-1: Modernizing Utility Data and Customer Service Infrastructure to Improve Affordability and Customer Outcomes and Enable Flexible Load
Tuesday, November 10
10:30am – 11:30am
Utilities are under growing pressure to improve affordability, customer service, and participation in the evolving flexible energy system. Modern data exchange platforms can reduce costs, simplify customer-authorized data sharing, and provide customers with energy service options, whereas AI-enabled tools can improve customer support, billing assistance, and program delivery. Attendees will learn how regulators, utilities, and third parties can work together to modernize utilities’ data infrastructure, overcome barriers to data access, and ensure that new technologies deliver measurable benefits for customers.
Session Number: B-1
Session is open:
Concurrent Session B4: Can Measuring "Grid Utilization" Generate Affordability Insights?
Tuesday, November 10
10:30am – 11:30am
Grid utilization is gaining ground as a concept to meet load growth, integrate distributed resources, and hold down costs — but does improving utilization translate to improving affordability? Virginia law now requires utility planning to consider grid efficiency technologies, and the Minnesota Public Utility Commission recently ordered similar metrics into distribution planning. This session will provide attendees with a combination of perspectives describing how grid utilization is measured, findings from recent studies, and whether there is a direct connection to affordability
Session Number: B-4
Session is open:
Lunch on Your Own
Tuesday, November 10
11:30am – 1:30pm
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Session Number: C-2
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Session Number: C-4
Session is open:
Concurrent Session - Ethics
Tuesday, November 10
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Session Number: C-5
Session is open:
Concurrent Session - Transmission Workshop
Tuesday, November 10
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Session Number: C-1
Session is open:
Concurrent Session C3: The Copper Sunset: Planning the Transition to IP Networks
Tuesday, November 10
1:30pm – 2:30pm
The telecom network is transitioning from Plain Old Telephone Service (provided over copper) to Internet Protocol-based services (provided over fiber and wireless networks). This will require a new way to interconnect calls to ensure that calls can be completed and that customers retain access to emergency services. This session will address these questions:
How will commissions and service providers manage this transition?
What new infrastructure and regulations will be required?
Will state commission retain oversight to ensure that customers are protected?
This panel will review the 3 current proposals for interconnecting calls in an all-IP network.
Session Number: C-3
Session is open:
Coffee, Connections & Conversation
Tuesday, November 10
2:30pm – 3:00pm
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
3:00pm – 4:00pm
Session Number: D-2
Session is open:
Concurrent Session
Tuesday, November 10
3:00pm – 4:00pm
Session Number: D-4
Session is open:
Concurrent Session - Transmission Workshop
Tuesday, November 10
3:00pm – 4:00pm
Session Number: D-1
Session is open:
Concurrent Session D3: What Happens to My Call When the Power Goes Out?
Tuesday, November 10
3:00pm – 4:00pm
Today’s legacy telephone network continues to operate during power outages, because power is provided from the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier’s central office. Fiber networks require power at the customer’s premises. Wireless networks require power at the cell tower and the ability to charge customer equipment. The conversation will be guided by these questions:
What vulnerabilities does this cause and what can state commissions do to resolve this issue?
Will providing customers with on-site battery backup ensure access to communications when commercial power is shut off during emergencies and extreme weather events?
How can we ensure that customers retain access to E911 and other critical services?
Session Number: D-3
Session is open:
Wednesday, November 11
Buenos Dias Break
Wednesday, November 11
8:00am – 8:30am
Session is open:
Registration Open
Wednesday, November 11
8:00am – 10:00am
Session is open:
General Session
Wednesday, November 11
8:30am – 10:00am
Building for Resilience & Safety: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
This session will focus on the resilience and safety of American utility infrastructure, including lessons learned in Puerto Rico, and a discussion of pipeline safety in the United States. Hurricane Maria caused catastrophic damage to Puerto Rico’s electric, water, and telecommunications infrastructure. The event revealed tightly wound infrastructure dependencies and chronic underinvestment. Working together, providers and government partners continue to rebuild through substation modernization, battery storage, fiber redundancy, and hardened water treatment plants.
In this session, attendees will better understand the importance of coordination, technology, and sustained funding. Puerto Rico’s experience carries lessons for all stakeholders as they increasingly confront extreme weather and other infrastructure hazards.
Panelists: TBD
Session is open:
Buenos Dias Break
Wednesday, November 11
10:00am – 10:15am
Session is open:
Closing General Session
Wednesday, November 11
10:15am – 11:15am
Keeping Communities Running When They Need It Most: What Can We Learn from Local Resilience Solutions?
When extreme weather strikes, access to electricity, communications, and water becomes more than a matter of convenience. It is essential to public safety, health, economic stability, and community recovery. From hurricanes and floods to winter storms and wildfires, recent disasters have demonstrated that communities need more than resilient utility systems alone. They also need local resources and partnerships that can help keep critical services operating when the broader system is under stress.
This general session will explore how community resilience initiatives help strengthen preparedness and recovery in many places across the country. Attendees will hear a rapid-fire series of stories from the field that highlight real-world examples of community resilience projects.
