By Amanda Durish Cook

The Illinois Commerce Commission has agreed to open the remaining meetings for its NextGrid study process to the public just days after two groups accused its chairman of keeping the public in the dark on the study and violating the state’s open meetings laws.

Consumer advocate Illinois PIRG Education Fund and Chicago-based energy storage and wind energy company GlidePath Development filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court on Monday against the ICC and Chairman Brien Sheahan, alleging that the commission is largely conducting its NextGrid study without public involvement (2018-CH-07943).

The two organizations allege that since launching the NextGrid study, the ICC and Sheahan have committed dozens of breaches of the state’s Open Meetings Act, including failing to post meeting notices and agendas in advance; repeatedly denying the public the opportunity to attend meetings; “actively” excluding certain individuals from attending meetings; failing to keep reliable meeting records; excluding input from working group members in meeting records; and issuing draft reports containing content that had not been discussed in meetings.

The ICC confirmed on Friday that it will open all remaining NextGrid working group meetings to the public, hours after meeting with the plaintiffs in court and working out an agreement order.

A handwritten agreement between the parties says that if the ICC wants to continue its status quo of closed meetings, it must postpone all NextGrid meetings, but if meetings proceed, they should be in full compliance with the Open Meetings Act. The ICC also agreed to provide plaintiffs with advance notice of all meetings and specific steps it will take to comply with the Open Meetings Act. The agreement also notes the ICC must still answer the plaintiffs’ complaint by July 20.

ICC Senior Public Information Officer Victoria Crawford said the ICC was “pleased that progress on this important study to explore the electric grid of the future will continue.”

“The ICC and the NextGrid facilitators and leaders remain committed, as always, to an open and transparent process,” Crawford said.

“The Illinois Commerce Commission agreed today to a court order requiring the NextGrid process to abide by the Open Meetings Act while the lawsuit proceeds. Despite an ICC spokesperson’s claims that the lawsuit was ‘frivolous,’ attorneys for the commission agreed to plaintiff demands to open the process and fully comply with the Open Meetings Act,” Illinois PIRG and GlidePath said in a joint statement on Friday.

‘Behind Closed Doors’

In their Monday complaint, Illinois PIRG and GlidePath asked the court to altogether restart the NextGrid study process in compliance with the Open Meetings Act, claiming that the study “contains recommendations that could impact competition while increasing utility control of electric generation.”

“NextGrid, as an arm of the ICC, is a public body and subject to the terms of the Open Meetings Act. NextGrid also qualifies as an advisory body of the state or a commission of the state and is subject to the terms and requirements of the Open Meetings Act,” the lawsuit contends.

The 18-month NextGrid study seeks to help Illinois prepare for the long-term needs of its utilities, grid and markets in light of new technology and an evolving resource mix. The study involves seven working groups created by the ICC, each tasked with writing one chapter of the report. The University of Illinois’ Electrical and Computing Engineering Department will edit and assemble chapters to form a final report that will likely contain recommendations for improving the state’s energy industry.

The working groups focus on separate issues, such as ratemaking, new technology, markets, metering, reliability and resilience, customer participation and environmental policy. The ICC selected working group chairs and group members. The groups have been holding closed meetings since early December.

The lawsuit claims that the ICC has so far held about 22 private meetings concerning NextGrid. In one instance in late January, a lawyer seeking to dial into a working group meeting was disconnected three times, even over the objection of a working group member, the plaintiffs contend.

The suit also alleges that the work of Next Grid lead facilitators Peter Sauer and George Gross, both professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is being paid for by Commonwealth Edison and Ameren. The resolution creating NextGrid acknowledges that “Illinois electric utilities will provide funding to support the work of the facilitator.”

Illinois PIRG and GlidePath also note ComEd and Ameren maintain representatives on every working group, the membership of which has not been made public.

In a letter describing NextGrid, Sheahan said that because the effort was established by a commission resolution and is not a docketed proceeding, it will not produce a commission order at its completion.

“The purpose of the final report is to provide a comprehensive view of our current grid, and to provide a menu to policymakers, regulators, consumer advocates [and] the public about the tools, technologies and policies that could lead to the grid of the future,” Sheahan wrote.

“The report will not in every instance determine a ‘best path forward.’ We want the report to be an honest assessment of where there is agreement on policies and where there is dissention.” He added that the final report will document areas of consensus and discord alike.

Sheahan also said the decision to cap the number of members in the working groups was made to “control the number of participants and encourage frank, open dialogue and a participatory environment.”

Illinois PIRG and GlidePath disagree with Sheahan’s characterization.

“The electric grid of the future should empower consumers to have maximum competition and choice, but that won’t happen in a closed process dominated by the utility of the past,” Illinois PIRG Education Fund Director Abe Scarr said in a press release. “NextGrid must be developed with maximum transparency and in full compliance with the Open Meetings Act.”

“We can’t create good policy behind closed doors. Experience shows that excluding consumer watchdogs and market participants will hurt ratepayers,” GlidePath CEO Dan Foley said.

The two organizations say the nonpublic NextGrid process has already resulted in a draft report from the technology working group that includes a section on smart cities that had not been discussed in the meetings. They also argue the study could form the basis for major Illinois energy legislation that will affect ratepayers.

“It is important to note that the ICC has gone out of its way to ensure an open and transparent process. NextGrid is a collaborative study that relies on the input of technical experts, stakeholders and the general public,” Crawford said in an email to RTO Insider. “A diverse group of more than 230 individuals representing various sectors of the energy industry, consumer advocates, environmental groups, academia, business and community leaders are active participants in the NextGrid study.”

The commission also said it “actively” seeks involvement through mass emails, press releases and NextGrid public comment sessions after preliminary drafts of findings or report chapters are written.

The ICC keeps records of NextGrid working groups’ agendas, meeting summaries and presentations online. It also maintains separate email addresses for each working group to receive comments on the publicly available information.

“Interested parties are and have been encouraged to submit written input,” the ICC said.