PUF's Summer Summit Soapbox Luncheon
Learning and Laughter in Boston
Commissioners and industry experts enjoyed two-minute takes on the future of utility regulation. Some twenty of them went on stage to share their views on anything they wanted.
Law & Lawyers
Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Mass DPU
“Last year, the governor pushed for a siting and permitting bill that is one of the first in the nation on getting clean energy sited in the state. That bill is about having predictable timelines that are shorter with less appeals and provide an opportunity for people to participate in these proceedings.”
A Clean, Affordable, Resilient Energy Future
Highlights from the NARUC Summer Policy Summit
“SEPA held its first-ever Office Hours event showcasing our new Database of Emerging Large-Load Tariffs and Agreements (DELTa) platform, jointly created with the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center, drawing in regulators and utilities for a hands-on Q&A.”
Hot Topics at NARUC Summer Summit
NARUC
A plethora of energy and utility experts convened on the big issues at the 2025 NARUC Summer Policy Summit, with a bullseye on demand from AI and data centers, and much more. Included are excerpts from sessions on Unpacking Challenges Facing RTOs and Designing Tariffs for Large Load Customers, as well as a conversation with NARUC President and Georgia Commissioner Tricia Pridemore and Exelon CEO Calvin Butler.
Powering the AI Era
EPRI’s DCFlex Initiative Tackles the Challenge
“The outcome of DCFlex won’t be limited to a few successful pilots. EPRI aims to develop a framework of standards, best practices, and tools that can be adopted industry-wide, streamlining interconnection processes, reducing delays, and enabling wider adoption of flexibility at scale.”
Conversation with Tricia Pridemore and Calvin Butler
NARUC Summer Policy Summit
The 2025 NARUC Summer Policy Summit featured a conversation between Exelon CEO Calvin Butler and NARUC President and Georgia Commissioner Tricia Pridemore. There was a lot to talk about with Butler, who leads one of the nation’s largest utility companies, serving more than 10.7 million customers through six fully regulated transmission and distribution utilities – Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO, and Pepco. He also is chair of the board of the Edison Electric Institute and leads some twenty thousand Exelon employees.
Behind the Grid
Why Telecom Is the Backbone of Modern Utilities
“Today’s telecom infrastructure has to support a grid that is smarter, faster, and more complex. That means moving away from legacy systems like time-division multiplexing (TDM) and toward dynamic, IP-based protocols that can handle massive amounts of data in real time. But that shift is anything but simple.”
Unpacking Challenges Facing RTOs
NARUC Summer Policy Summit
This panel at the 2025 NARUC Summer Policy Summit explored competing policy demands. On the panel were moderator and NARUC Senior Director Kim Duffley, ISO New England CEO Gordon van Welie, District of Columbia Commission Chair Emile Thompson, Northeast Power Coordinating Council CEO Charles Dickerson, Avangrid Networks CEO Joe Purington, GT Power Group President Glen Thomas, and Copper Monarch Principal Vincent Duane.
Designing Tariffs for Large Load Customers
NARUC Summer Policy Summit
Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Nevada recently approved tariffs for new large load customers. This panel at the 2025 NARUC Summer Policy Summit explored the state objectives regulators consider when evaluating tariffs and which tariff design elements support those goals. On the panel were moderator and North Carolina Commissioner Floyd McKissick Jr., moderator and Virginia Commissioner Kelsey Bagot, SEPA Senior Manager, Emerging Technology Ann Collier, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Deputy Department Leader Natalie Mims Frick, Verrus Head of Energy Jeff Bladen, and ALN Policy and Law, LLC President Angela Navarro, a former Virginia Commissioner.
Reflections on Chairing FERC and the Virginia SCC
FERC
“I’ve been warning that we’re heading for a reliability crisis. It’s a simple Econ 101 equation. Supply is going down with premature retirements of generation and not building enough. Then, we’re seeing exponential increase in demand.”