“Where nuclear shines and utilities are uniquely positioned to provide insight is total system cost where microreactors win. They look expensive on an individual project basis, but in the context of needing to run a new natural gas pipeline or build a new transmission line, they make sense.”

“Our impact is greater when we work together to find the best outcomes possible. That is why I gravitated toward a three-year theme, alongside President Rendahl and First Vice President Hudson.”

“I plan to focus on cooperation among regulators, utilities, and federal partners. I hope to explore how we can take all we’ve learned from pilot programs and past modernization efforts and affordability initiatives. I want us to turn these lessons into action.”

“Uniting Regulators and Harmonizing Impact is not about uniformity, it’s about coordination and strategic alignment, so we can achieve important goals like resource adequacy and affordability by working effectively together.”

Conversations with NARUC President and Washington Commissioner Ann Rendahl, First Vice President and Virginia Commissioner Jehmal Hudson, and Second Vice President and Minnesota Chair Katie Sieben with PUF Senior Advisor Paul Kjellander, former NARUC and Idaho Commission President.

The Annual Meeting showcased all the hard work NARUC has done this past year on a wide range of topics from wildfire to data center loads to DER interconnections and much more.

“Over the next five years we’re going to build more generation resources across the Southeast than in any five-year period in our hundred-year history. Our ten-year transmission plan is as big as it’s ever been, but it is all being done in a constructive way with partners like AWS.”

“The intent is that all of you would have a resource to turn to when you’re evaluating utility risk management, cost recovery, financial mechanisms, and how to balance safety, reliability, and affordability when you’re considering utility investments to address wildfire.”

“We have a descriptive report. That’s the beginning in the formation of the Natural Gas Readiness Forum so the stakeholders can get back together and continue this work and continue to align these systems. It’s too important.”

The NARUC 2025 Annual Meeting and Education Conference was held November 9 – 12 in Seattle, with the theme of Let There Be Light. The Annual Meeting is NARUC’s capstone event that featured a year-end summary from NARUC President Tricia Pridemore, with seminal topics across each utility sector, and highlighted the installation of new leadership.