Electric Transmission Policy Summit
Rep. Tom Sloan was elected to his 12th term in the Kansas House of Representatives. He serves on DOE, FCC, and EPA advisory committees and has hosted FERC Commissioners in Kansas. He focuses on energy, telecommunications, and water policy interactions in Kansas and nationally.
What would bring a FERC Commissioner, DOE Office of Electricity Deputy Assistant Secretary, representatives from the SPP, MISO, Manitoba Hydro, AWEA, two National Laboratories, state regulators or staff members from four states, representatives from Clean Air organizations, and public utilities together?
An opportunity to discuss seams issues, interface between wires and non-wires scenarios, examine renewable generated energy versus capacity opportunities, and a baseball game.
All of us have sat on one side or another of legislative and regulatory hearings. Presenters deliver carefully choreographed statements approved by legal and public affairs staff members; Legislators and Commissioners, to the best of their abilities, ask probing questions; and other interested stakeholders provide testimonies to elicit additional information or policy considerations.
While such stylized procedures have value and are necessary in a Democratic society, they are not necessarily the best way to stimulate thought, discussion, compromise, consensus, and policy direction.
On August 14, 2018 an Electric Transmission Policy Summit was held in Lawrence, Kansas, and involved formal presentations, but more important, discussions between participants and conferees that allowed for more in-depth analysis of federal and state policy options. No ex parte discussions occurred.