“No-Regrets” Actions for Utility Generators

Back-and-forth shifts in the politics of environmental regulation can be confusing – but policy changes should not be an impediment to utilities, because they have always been masters of long-term planning. John Shenot and David Farnsworth take a look at some examples to illustrate that new environmental requirements could arise from federal laws already on the books. Utilities, working with their state regulators and stakeholders, should recognize and make long-term plans for these likely requirements.

Reducing Europe’s Dependency on Gas

The European Commission’s forthcoming energy strategy recognizes the problem of volatile fossil fuel supply and rightly calls for more investment in efficiency and renewables – but it also suggests a continued reliance on gas. Michaela Holl and Jan Rosenow write in EURACTIV that a more realistic path to achieving climate goals lies in decarbonizing Europe’s energy demand, including by electrifying building heat.

FURTHER NOTES

Online Now: Putting the Customer First

In a roundtable discussion, Richard Sedano, David Littell, Nancy Seidman, Jessica Shipley and John Shenot talked about a wide range of things states can do (and are doing) to empower consumers in the energy transition: performance regulation, distribution planning, rate design reforms, electrification, and more equitable access to the regulatory process.

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Performance-Based Regulation: An Overview

In a workshop for the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, John Shenot and Camille Kadoch provided an introduction to performance-based regulation as a key tool for aligning utility, ratepayer and public interests.

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