WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — More than 300 regulators, PJM officials and industry stakeholders attended the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners’ 21st Annual Education Conference last week. Here are some highlights.
Haque Reflects on Year as MACRUC President
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Asim Haque reflected on his year as president of MACRUC as he prepared to hand the gavel to incoming president and New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Commissioner Mary-Anna Holden.
Haque acknowledged obstacles in executing his theme for the year: “lead together, lead now.”
His tenure coincided with a bruising battle in Ohio over FirstEnergy’s and American Electric Power’s requests for financial support for their merchant generation. At the same time, Exelon’s acquisition of Pepco Holdings Inc. split commission members in D.C. and Maryland.
“What I’ve come to find this past year is that each of our states’ challenges, while possibly common, are layered in so much subtext,” Haque said. “Most often that subtext can be unique to that particular state. The subtext can be existing law, the makeup and strength of various stakeholders in the state, the political tenor, varying financial interests…
“Finding the answers that are universally acceptable to each of our states is incredibly challenging,” he continued. “If you can’t find universally acceptable answers, then most certainly you won’t be able to lead now.”
‘CEO Panel’ Compares Notes
In the “CEO Panel,” executives from AEP, Pepco and NiSource discussed their challenges in response to questions from moderators Judith Jagdmann, of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and Richard Mroz, president of the New Jersey BPU.
Robert Powers, COO of AEP, and David Velazquez, CEO of Pepco, shared their experiences operating in multiple jurisdictions. AEP has distribution utilities in seven states in SPP, ERCOT and PJM. In March, Pepco became part of Exelon, which now has distribution operations in five states and D.C. within PJM.
Powers said AEP’s geographical diversity gives the company “opportunities to experiment” on initiatives in one location before proposing them elsewhere. AEP’s philosophy is to “put strong people locally who don’t always have to come to [AEP headquarters in] Columbus for every decision,” he said.
Velazquez said dealing with multiple commissions prevents the company from rolling out initiatives such as smart meters and smart grids in all of its territories at once because of the need to “sell” them to state regulators individually.
On the other hand, he said, “As we get feedback, it helps us … refine and make better the product we’re offering. … So there’s pluses and minuses.”
Carl Levander, executive vice president for regulatory policy and corporate affairs for NiSource, said his company faces a challenge in maintaining institutional knowledge because 23% of its workforce is eligible for retirement and another 29% has at least 20 years’ experience — while a quarter of the employees have less than three years’ tenure.
Levander said that his company, the parent of Northern Indiana Public Service Co. and Columbia Gas, is not interested in expanding into services, such as home security, that other utilities have tried. “We’ve made a decision to be a very boring company — and we have the right people running it,” he said, prompting laughter.
─ Rich Heidorn Jr
