Pennsylvania PUC
Steve DeFrank is Chair of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Paul Kjellander is PUF Senior Advisor and former NARUC President.
Last month, Public Utilities Fortnightly kicked off a three-part series on contentious issues facing state regulators, starting with a conversation with West Virginia Chair Charlotte Lane. In this PUF issue, four more Commission Chairs give their views on subjects they are grappling with, and while there are differences, there is much in common.
Commissions are dealing with the need for more generation to meet load growth from data centers, AI, manufacturing onshoring, and more. That brings in questions on affordability. But state policy differences and goals affect it all.
Arizona Chair Kevin Thompson, New Mexico Chair Gabriel Aguilera, Oregon Chair Letha Tawney, and Pennsylvania Chair Steve DeFrank in conversations with PUF Senior Advisor Paul Kjellander, had much to say on the issues facing their states.
PUF’s Paul Kjellander: What are you seeing related to potential load growth, whether it’s data centers, AI, and industrial load growth?
Chair Steve DeFrank: A lot of the challenges we’re seeing in Pennsylvania are the same ones many of our colleagues around the country are facing. Top of mind is affordability – especially making sure this commodity, electricity, remains affordable for ratepayers, even as PJM capacity auction prices have risen sharply in recent years.