Members of PJM’s Public Interest and Environmental Organizations User Group (PIEOUG) last week unanimously endorsed a new charter for the stakeholder body, formalizing its structure and expanding its scope.

The PIEOUG, which includes consumer advocates and representatives of public interest and environmental organizations, has been a longstanding group within the RTO that typically holds discussions with the PJM Board of Managers at the RTO’s annual meeting in May. (See Advocates Challenge PJM Board on Exelon, FE.)

Greg Poulos, executive director of the Consumer Advocates of the PJM States (CAPS), said members have long discussed having the group take on a larger role within PJM and to serve as a more active entity.

Poulos said it’s been “quite a process” to assemble the charter, working with the interested stakeholders and PJM.

“We’ve tried to move this along over the last year or maybe longer,” he said. “The charter will help us in communications.”

Poulos described several core parts of the charter, including five principles for the purpose of convening the PIEOUG:

• providing an open forum for discussion of policy issues that are pertinent to the PJM region and to the members of this group;
• addressing PJM policy issues, actions and recommendations that PIEOUG members find important;
• providing access to the PJM stakeholder process for organizations not eligible for membership;
• providing a venue for PJM staff to educate and solicit input from the environmental and public interest community; and
• organizing environmental and public interest group communications with the PJM Board and RTO members.

Poulos highlighted the charter’s inclusion of two chair positions — one representing environmental and public interest organizations and another for consumer advocates. Each chair must be a representative of a PIEOUG member and will serve a one-year term. A secretary will also serve a one-year term.

William Fields of the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel and Tom Rutigliano of the Natural Resources Defense Council currently serve as co-chairs of the PIEOUG. Poulos said PIEOUG members will elect new chairs at the group’s next meeting.

The charter also requires the two chairs to alternate presiding over meetings. Meeting protocol will be generally informal, he said, but Robert’s Rules of Order will be followed when necessary. A quorum will consist of no fewer than 10 members.

PIEOUG membership is open to “bona fide” environmental organizations and other public interest groups, including the consumer advocates of the PJM states.

The charter lays out organizations that are ineligible for PIEOUG membership, including:

• PJM Members, other than consumer advocates;
• any organization eligible for PJM membership, except consumer advocates, CAPS members and those who are eligible for membership in the end-use customer sector or as an affiliate member only as an incidental result of their status as a retail electric consumer;
• organizations substantially funded by a PJM member, and;
• organizations whose primary mission is furthering the interests of other PJM members, except CAPS.

PIEOUG meetings will still be open to ineligible groups and the general public, although they will not be able to participate.

Fields said he was hopeful the PIEOUG would have a greater impact in PJM’s stakeholder process and bring forward environmental and state issues for discussion and action.

“I think it’s great that we have a charter, and hopefully this group will be able to move forward and make some good progress on issues,” Fields said.