Regulation & Policy

“The next five years are going to be significant on the gas side as we continue to guide the transition of the industry, and on the electric side as we implement AMI and roll out time-varying rates. We need to do a lot on rate design, affordability, and heat pump rates.”

The DPU is led by Chair James Van Nostrand along with Commissioners Cecile Fraser and Staci Rubin. The PUF team discussed with them the latest events in regulation, as well as where the Bay State is headed in its energy transition. DPU Staff provided updates on what is going on in their divisions, and as a bonus, PUF Executive Editor Steve Mitnick talked with Secretary of Energy for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Rebecca Tepper.

“Order 1920 in some ways may sound drastic in terms of the magnitude of change. But it provides an opportunity to evaluate transmission more creatively, more holistically.”

“FERC wants to have a better understanding of how those capacities will change based on more accurate ambient weather conditions. FERC increased the reporting requirement from two seasonal ratings to four seasonal ratings and added a ten-day ambient adjusted rating requirement based on forecasted hourly temperatures.”

“There will be a huge amount of litigation from this by all participants in all ideologies, so there will be a lot of turbulence. Another reason this will impact most energy and utilities people, is the question, ‘Will this impact regulatory certainty for investors?‘ It’s a legitimate, unknown question.”

“Many of those studies will show, if you look at the IEA or others, that the world will be continuing to use fossil energy in 2050. It’s how do you manage carbon and how you’re reducing emissions from other places. Regulators do have a lot of ability in this space.”

“When you look at the regulated side of the business, our revenue requirement will probably go from 20-ish billion to about $70 billion over the next 15 to 20 years. That means rates are going to go up about 10 to 15% a year. It’s mandatory we do this.”

“The reality is that how regulators rule on the accessibility and availability of utility data may determine whether a state can remotely achieve state decarbonization goals.”

A conversation with Power 1 Energy’s Ed Jenks, Katie Widmar, Patrick Farah, Fred Bonewell, Robert Siegler, and Richard Thum.

A conversation with the FERC Commissioner about why putting state regulators front and center in transmission planning is so important.