NARUC
FERC Chair Willie Phillips is former Chair of the D.C. Public Service Commission. Moderator Julie Fedorchak is NARUC President and a commissioner at the North Dakota Public Service Commission.
At the Tuesday morning General Session of NARUC’s Winter Summit, NARUC President and North Dakota Commissioner Julie Fedorchak sat down with FERC Chair Willie Phillips, former Chair of the D.C. Public Service Commission. Quite a few topics were discussed, as NARUC and FERC are working together on issues affecting transmission, gas, and electric reliability, among others. Enjoy these excerpts.
NARUC President Julie Fedorchak: Chair Phillips, congratulations on officially being named Chair. Tell us about the transition from NARUC and state level regulator to the federal level.
FERC Chair Willie Phillips: When you think about what a regulator does, it doesn't matter where you sit. The mission is all the same. My principles, my goals, have not changed. You all can say it with me — reliability, affordability, and sustainability.
The best training ground for a federal regulator is to be a state regulator. The best place to learn is to come here to NARUC. That's where I've learned, and where I cut my teeth. You have one of the best regulators in the country — FERC Commissioner Christie. He is also a former state regulator. He understands and gets the mission we have and what we need to do for this country.