Affordable Grid Modernization, Part II

Advanced Conductors for New Transmission Buildout

“Next-gen advanced conductors can optimize new lines, often enabling fewer, shorter structures while providing capacity headroom for future demand growth. Take a closer look at how advanced conductors make new-build transmission projects excel for grid operators and customers alike.”

Wetlands and Waters of the United States

Giving Clarity to WOTUS

“When it comes to wetlands, interpreting the Rules of the Clean Water Act can be as clear as mud. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin emphasized, in his NARUC Summer Policy Summit fireside chat with NARUC President Tricia Pridemore, the need for clarification addressing Waters of the United States (WOTUS) and their definition.”

America's Cybersecurity Reality

A View from the Eighty-Fourth Floor

“I had the privilege of joining national security leaders, utility executives, cybersecurity experts, and public-private collaborators at the Qrypt-hosted summit on critical infrastructure protection. With cyber threats evolving in stealth, sophistication, and scale, this gathering was a wake-up call, and a roadmap, for utilities and regulators alike.”

Powering the AI Century: Why Utilities Must Lead

The Grid Is No Longer Background

“Burgeoning demand for AI data centers is already reshaping load profiles in Virginia, Texas, and other hot spots. Virginia’s data center load will approach half of the state’s overall power consumption by 2030 – up from about a quarter today.”

Managing Data Centers' Financial Risk

Protecting Electricity Customers

“This pioneering project shows that we no longer need to guess or debate whether a proposed data center will get built. We can wait until it’s mostly built (so we can be surer it’ll get finished and run), then build its off-grid power supply on nearby cheap land.”

AEP's COO in Indiana and Michigan on Today's Challenges

Indiana Michigan Power

“The data center load under contract will more than double the peak demand of Indiana Michigan Power Company over the next five years. This is a terrific opportunity but also presents a significant challenge in terms of grid upgrades, increased generation capacity requirements, and capital outlays.”

Reflections on Chairing FERC and the Virginia SCC

FERC

“I’ve been warning that we’re heading for a reliability crisis. It’s a simple Econ 101 equation. Supply is going down with premature retirements of generation and not building enough. Then, we’re seeing exponential increase in demand.”

Designing Tariffs for Large Load Customers

NARUC Summer Policy Summit

Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Nevada recently approved tariffs for new large load customers. This panel at the 2025 NARUC Summer Policy Summit explored the state objectives regulators consider when evaluating tariffs and which tariff design elements support those goals. On the panel were moderator and North Carolina Commissioner Floyd McKissick Jr., moderator and Virginia Commissioner Kelsey Bagot, SEPA Senior Manager, Emerging Technology Ann Collier, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Deputy Department Leader Natalie Mims Frick, Verrus Head of Energy Jeff Bladen, and ALN Policy and Law, LLC President Angela Navarro, a former Virginia Commissioner.

Unpacking Challenges Facing RTOs

NARUC Summer Policy Summit

This panel at the 2025 NARUC Summer Policy Summit explored competing policy demands. On the panel were moderator and NARUC Senior Director Kim Duffley, ISO New England CEO Gordon van Welie, District of Columbia Commission Chair Emile Thompson, Northeast Power Coordinating Council CEO Charles Dickerson, Avangrid Networks CEO Joe Purington, GT Power Group President Glen Thomas, and Copper Monarch Principal Vincent Duane.