Coronavirus Challenge

Deck: 

A Special Report

Fortnightly Magazine - March 2020

For this special feature on utilities and utility regulators meeting the challenge of the coronavirus crisis, Public Utilities Fortnightly went to two of the top experts on the grid's resilience. We like to call Scott Aaronson the most important individual in America, only half in jest. Scott leads the teams at the Edison Electric Institute focused on cyber and physical security and storm response and recovery and is the EEI's point man in this current crisis. As the Secretary for the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council — the primary liaison between senior government and industry leaders — Scott's mighty busy these days constantly communicating with utility officers across the country, sharing ideas on the most effective practices and applying the "power by association." The PUF team talked with Scott for a half hour and then let him go to the critical tasks at hand.

We still do call Brien Sheahan "Commissioner Sheahan" though his term on the Illinois Commerce Commission concluded a couple of months ago. Indeed, he was Chair Sheahan at the ICC for a considerable time but also arguably the most respected voice among utility regulators nationally on the grid's resilience. And now he's concentrating on this current crisis and the implications for regulators and the utilities themselves of course. We grabbed a few minutes from the always thought-provoking "Commissioner" as well to see what's his take on the situation we find ourselves in. 


Coronavirus Challenge conversations:


Lead image: © Can Stock Photo / photonova