NARUC Summer Policy Summit
Moderator Mike La Rosa is a Commissioner at the Florida Public Service Commission. John Bear is the CEO of MISO. Claire Coleman is Consumer Counsel at the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel. Dan Scripps is Chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission. Vince Parisi is the COO of NIPSCO.
This panel at the NARUC Summer Policy Summit, introduced by NARUC President Ann Rendahl, examined how utilities, grid operators, regulators, consumer advocates, and the Department of Energy work together to maintain grid reliability during extreme events. The discussion focused on lessons learned from recent winter storms, the role of emergency authorities such as Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, and the importance of coordination across regions and fuel types, as well as addressed issues that arise in balancing reliability, affordability, and resilience.
On the panel were Moderator and Florida Commissioner Mike La Rosa, MISO CEO John Bear, Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel’s Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman, Michigan Chair Dan Scripps, and NIPSCO COO Vince Parisi. Enjoy these excerpts.
Moderator and Florida Commissioner Mike La Rosa: Planning metrics say we have enough capacity, and then a multi-day cold event happens. Are the systems’ resources that are adequate on paper reliable in these events, and what are we measuring wrong?
MISO CEO John Bear: We stepped back four years ago and took a hard look at a significantly changing resource portfolio in MISO. We looked at wind, solar, batteries, and thermal retirements to understand how long-term planning aligns with operational realities.