NARUC Annual Meeting
Brandon Presley is President of NARUC.
The National Association of Utility State Regulators held its 2020 Annual Meeting in November. Outgoing NARUC President Brandon Presley presided over a most unusual year. PUF staff brings you excerpts.
NARUC President Brandon Presley: With the help of several experts, we're going to explore key areas that highlight divisions. Those areas are technology, including the digital divide, consumer communication and moratoriums, policy issues, and racial equity. Our members will offer honest perspectives and they're uniquely qualified in each of these topic areas.
First, we're going to discuss technology. We have all known there had been a digital divide early into the pandemic, and that divide became painfully more apparent, deep, and dark. How well are we addressing access to the technology needed to work and learn successfully? What else needs to be done to cross the bridge from searching for signals at McDonald's to surfing the net from your couch at home?
Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, Commissioner Karen Charles Peterson: I want to commend the industry, because they have stepped up to the plate to address the need for service during the pandemic. They have done a tremendous job of working with states to ensure we find ways to allow our school-aged children to learn from home, and men and women to work from home. But there's more that can and should be done.