Columbus
Chris Ayers is Executive Director of North Carolina Utilities Commission Public Staff and Past President of NASUCA.
Members of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, more commonly known as NASUCA, gathered for its mid-year meeting in Columbus, Ohio from June 8 to 11.
The city of Columbus holds a special place in NASUCA’s history. In May 1979, sixteen consumer advocate office representatives met in Columbus and established NASUCA to provide a forum to exchange ideas, improve consumer representation, and encourage greater consumer participation in the regulatory process.
NASUCA’s return to Columbus over forty-six years later provided a great opportunity to celebrate NASUCA’s history. “I thought it was fun and really important while we are back in Ohio, back to the homestead so to speak, to give a little history lesson to help all of you that are a little newer to know from whence we came, to appreciate that we are still here,” said NASUCA Executive Director David Springe. “Forty-six years later, we’re still at it. …. It started fun. It’s still fun!”
Bill Spratley, the Father of NASUCA, served as NASUCA’s first President and shared the origin story with mid-year meeting attendees. The idea for NASUCA originated among consumer advocates attending the NARUC Annual Meeting located in Las Vegas in November 1977. A growing group of advocates recognized the need for their own organization, rather than hoping they ran into each other at NARUC each year.