NOPR Over and Over. Bills Lower and Lower.
Steve Mitnick is Editor-in-Chief of Public Utilities Fortnightly and author of the book “Lines Down: How We Pay, Use, Value Grid Electricity Amid the Storm.”
We'll always remember you, 2017.
You were the year when FERC had just one commissioner for half of a summer. And just two commissioners for much longer before and after. You were the year when four new commissioners started, in four months. The year when the 'leave it in the ground' protesters were the highlight of the public meetings — or the lowlight — before their ritual ejection.
2017, you were the year when the Energy Secretary sucked the air out of the room with a NOPR. Our conversations — on utility regulation and policy — have been about it and not that much else since September 28.
You were the year when, mid-term, Rob Powelson went from the NARUC presidency to FERC. Jack Betkoski took the reins from Powelson for a time, before being elected in his own right.
Betkoski was elected at one end of the Hilton Baltimore, at the 2017 NARUC Annual Meeting. Fellow Nutmeg Stater Elin Swanson Katz was elected at another end of the hotel, she to the NASUCA presidency.
But 2017 was not just a banner year for Connecticuters. In June, New Mexico saw its own Pat Vincent-Collawn elected to the chairmanship of EEI. It was a historic day. Pat's the first woman to chair the association of investor-owned utilities.