A Day at the Indiana URC
Dale Thomas is Chief Technical Advisor, Research Policy and Planning Division for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
It was May when the PUF team traveled to Indianapolis and received a warm welcome at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Commissioners and Staff educated us about Indy, also known as Circle City, as the statehouse was planned around Monument Circle. It's reminiscent of Washington, and not surprising as a surveyor for Pierre L'Enfant, who designed our nation's capital city, with its many traffic circles, helped design the Indy town plan.
PUF: What is your role here?
Dale Thomas: I advise the Commissioners. I digest information and communicate it to them. Whether that's reading what's going on in other states, or Indiana specific research, policy, and planning.
We're involved in the case management, but we're primarily involved in resource planning, including the overarching matters that impacts, looking at data and information, and then trying to digest and disseminate it to the Commissioners in a way that means something to them.
PUF: With advances in technology, has there been much change lately in terms of how you do research?