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Fortnightly Magazine - April 2026

How Many Households Experience Utility Bills

The Role Advocates Play

I am grateful for the advocates who work on behalf of consumers like me, often without us ever knowing their names. And I am grateful for the people across this industry who make that possible. Utilities working to deliver reliable service that is designed to be as affordable as possible. Advocates working to make sure the decisions behind those bills hold up.
Byline: 

Rachel Bryant

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NASUCA on Affordability: David Springe

Affordability

“For years, we have warned that certain regulatory trends were going to create affordability challenges. In particular, we have pushed back against efforts to eliminate regulatory lag through mechanisms that allow utilities to place new costs on bills quickly through riders and trackers.”
Byline: 

David Springe

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NASUCA on Affordability: Chris Ayers

Affordability

“The conversation about affordability typically focuses on how to help customers on the back end, such as programs to help customers pay their bills and manage arrearages to avoid disconnection. Rarely do we talk about controlling costs on the front end of the ratemaking equation.”
Byline: 

Chris Ayers

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NASUCA on Affordability: Claire Coleman

Affordability

“Performance-based regulation focuses on defining clear goals and measuring whether utilities are delivering results, rather than evaluating investments only after the fact through the traditional ratemaking process.”
Byline: 

Claire Coleman

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The New CIO Mandate: Using AI to Bend the Utility Cost Curve

Accenture

“For utilities, affordability is the outcome regulators and customers care about, but cost structures and operating efficiency are the levers leaders can directly influence. Utilities need to change their long-term cost trajectory – so costs grow more slowly, stabilize, or decline — even as demand and investment requirements rise.”
Byline: 

Debanjan Chakraborty, Miguel Torreira, Jim Mazurek

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What's Ahead With Commission Chairs

Regulators

Public Utilities Fortnightly has been publishing a popular series of conversations with Commission Chairs, which started in 2025. This is continuing throughout 2026 and providing insights into the latest developments in state regulation in the public interest.

The discussions also provide an understanding of which issues are similar and which are different among the states. Affordability is front and center, as is load growth from data centers and artificial intelligence, but state legislation, policy, and goals affect all the issues.

Byline: 

PUF

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State Utility Regulation: Chair Rory Christian

New York PSC

“We’re going to be tying executive pay to affordability. We’re going to require utilities to publicly disclose how CEO salaries compare to their average workers’ pay, and report on an affordability index that will measure energy burden in their service territories.”
Byline: 

Rory Christian with Paul Kjellander

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