Fortnightly Magazine - July 2024

Ms. Fedorchak Goes to Washington

NARUC President Wins Primary

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.

Talking Wildfires

Unique conversations

Conversations with Puget Sound Energy CEO Mary Kipp, Hawaii Public Utilities Commission Chair Leo Asuncion, Pacific Power President Ryan Flynn, Rocky Mountain Power President Dick Garlish, with paintings by PUF’s Paul Kjellander.

Wildfires: Puget Sound Energy

Unique conversations

“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.”

Wildfires: Pacific Power

Unique conversations

“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.”

Wildfires: Rocky Mountain Power

Unique conversations

“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.”

SEARUC and MARC Presidents on the Regional Meetings

Floyd McKissick, Sarah Freeman

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.

NARUC Regional Meetings: Floyd McKissick

SEARUC

“I increasingly see a need for SEARUC and other regional organizations to meet more frequently and have substantive, detailed, Commissioner-only meetings where we can discuss issues of common concern that we need to focus attention upon.”

NARUC Regional Meetings: Sarah Freeman

MARC

“In January of 2025, we’ll be hosting that educational meeting in Oklahoma City because our MARC colleague and good friend Bob Anthony will be ending his term with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission as the longest-serving Commissioner in the country.”

MARC 2024 Conference

Memorable Moments in Minneapolis

The MARC 2024 conference was held in Minneapolis in May with the theme "Cooperation and Innovation." It highlighted the ways that the region’s utilities, developers, regulators, stakeholders, and communities have worked together for the public good.
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