Strategy & Planning

Conversations with the President of SEARUC and a Commissioner on the North Carolina Utilities Commission, Floyd McKissick; and incoming President of MARC and Commissioner on the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission, Sarah Freeman. SEARUC is NARUC’s division for the southeast and MARC is the division for the midwest.

“We are getting more sophisticated about understanding all factors that go into how and where we make investments. That also helps us defend investments to regulators and others, because we have the science, rigor, and discipline to justify them as prudent.”

“We’ve got over 450 weather stations deployed and take 30 years of data, crunch it, and get a good sense of what the forecast could be. Situational awareness is important because it’s a cost-effective method for getting visibility into the environment and is foundational information for all other mitigation measures.”

“We put effort into the bills, making sure all concerns the legislators had were addressed. We didn’t cross the finish line. We’re looking at what we can do without legislation, what’s under our power. We can ask the utilities to develop a wildfire protection plan.”

“Through EEI and the CEO task force, we’re talking to Congress and the Department of Energy and asking for options that don’t require us to serve as insurers of last resort for all damage associated with wildfire. Now, we are the insurers of a last resort and that’s untenable.”

NARUC President Julie Fedorchak prevailed in the Republican Primary and her name will appear on the ballot this November in an election to determine who shall sit in North Dakota’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“When people complain and say, “not in my backyard,” I find it difficult to commiserate. When I see transmission towers, I see the infrastructure necessary to drive economic opportunity and prosperity. And the energy that makes everyday life easier to enjoy.”

Guidehouse’s Mackinnon Lawrence, Nick McClusky, Bill Hughes, and Joe Owens analyze survey results.

“We must have liability caps. It may seem unachievable to change state and/or federal laws, but utilities’ exposure to these liabilities must be capped. Customers are being impacted by legal costs associated with wildfires. Unless reasonable limits are placed on wildfire liabilities, access to capital will be hampered.”

Fifteen Guidehouse experts hit their buzzers and answer our questions: Danielle Vitoff, Peter Shaw, Amul Sathe, Ed Batalla, Jenny Hampton, Keshav Sarin, Erik Larson, Derek Jones, Debbie Brannan, Robyn Link, Latisha Younger-Canon, Nathan White, Shaun Fernando, Aditya Ranade, Steve Waller.