NARUC Annual Meeting
Moderator Ann Rendahl is incoming NARUC First VP and a Commissioner for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. Leo Asuncion is Chair of the Public Utilities Commission, State of Hawaii. Cindy Crane is the CEO of PacifiCorp. Carolyn Turner is Executive Director of the Nevada Rural Electric Association. Michael Wara is a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University. Jane Cook is VP Underwriting – Casualty at AEGIS Insurance Services.
One General Session at the 2024 NARUC Annual Meeting and Education Conference was called "Hot Stuff: Navigating Financial Risks of Wildfires Without Getting Burned." The session looked at how wildfires pose a growing nationwide risk to communities, utilities, and consumers, with escalating financial impacts and affordability concerns. Panelists discussed innovative strategies for balancing the financial responsibilities of utilities with the need to maintain consumer affordability.
Included were incoming NARUC First VP, Washington Commissioner and moderator Ann Rendahl, Hawaii Chair Leo Asuncion, PacifiCorp CEO Cindy Crane, Nevada Rural Electric Assn. Executive Director Carolyn Turner, Stanford University Sr. Research Scholar Michael Wara, and AEGIS Insurance Services VP Underwriting – Casualty Jane Cook. Enjoy these excerpts.
Washington Commissioner and Moderator Ann Rendahl: We're going to talk about the increasing financial risks and the reliability and affordability of the impacts of wildfires on electrical utilities and our customers. The FEMA map of significant wildfire potential this past October shows wildfires pose a growing risk to communities, utilities, and consumers across the United States, not just in the western states.