People In Power

“Our staff regularly meets with other states and the federal government to learn about new funding opportunities. The ICC can’t apply directly for grants, but we’re working closely with other agencies to provide the technical assistance needed as they apply for those grants.”

“Among the larger programs under IIJA, electric vehicle charging infrastructure is important to states. Over $5 billion is provided to the State Departments of Transportation, typically in partnership with State Energy Offices, to establish a national electric vehicle charging network.”

“Since it’s competitive, you can’t be sure you’re going to get it. Putting the applications together costs us staff resources, time, and funds to hire experts to help us put together strong applications.”

Public Utilities Fortnightly's Paul Kjellander examines the federal funds coming into the energy and utilities space and how State Energy Offices are playing a role. He talks to the experts who are already dealing with the big funding issues.

“In developing resources, we’re doing a lot of stormwater capture that is cost effective; on the other hand, wastewater cleanup is not so cheap, but it’s cheaper than desalinization.”

“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.”

Excerpts of remarks by British Columbia Utilities Commission Chair David Morton, Resilient CEO Lisa DeMarco, Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines, Canada Energy Regulator Commissioner Trena Grimoldby, Yukon Utilities Board, Board Member Lesley McCullough, Prince Edward Island Regulatory & Appeals Commission Chair Scott MacKenzie, Canada Energy Regulator CEO Gitane De Silva, and Ontario Energy Board CEO Susanna Zagar.

“We need 30 GW of utility-scale storage and 10 GW of distributed storage to ensure system reliability and resiliency. Southern California Edison already has 5.5 GW of storage either installed or on the way because it’s been procured, including a 535-MW utility-owned lithium battery project available later this year.”

Excerpts of remarks by EPRI CEO Arshad Mansoor, Entergy CEO Drew Marsh, EEI SVP Energy Supply and Finance Richard McMahon, J-POWER EVP Yoshiki Onoi, and Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies CEO Daniel Teichmann.