NEW YORK — Scott Weiner, the New York Public Service Commission’s deputy for markets and innovation, discussed the state’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative.

“REV distinguishes itself not by its specific proposals but by its comprehensiveness. If you take a look at the specific components of REV, most, if not all, are being tested or applied somewhere else in North America. What we’ve tried to do is pull them all together at one time in a holistically, comprehensively approach to reform.”

Kerry Stroup, manager of state legislative and regulatory affairs for PJM, discussed the challenges of introducing any systemwide programs to the RTO, which operates in 13 states and D.C.

“Innovation is something that happens in a different way in a multi-jurisdictional entity like PJM as opposed to a single unit like New York or Ontario. … PJM is a market maker and doesn’t implement policy. So that can be a challenge at times because those state retail regulatory frameworks range from vertically integrated utilities to hybrid models to entire fully restructured retail markets.”

Peter Fraser, vice president of industry operations and performance for the Ontario Energy Board, said previous market models are inadequate to address customer preferences for cleaner energy and the increased integration of newer technologies.

“We’re changing the way electricity is priced to consumers in a number of ways, with residential rates going to a fixed monthly charge for their electric distribution rates. [We’re] studying reforms to nonresidential rates, and we issued a discussion paper this spring that recognizes the changes that are ongoing in the electric distribution market.”

Aleck Dadson, vice president of consultant StrategyCorp and former COO of the Ontario Energy Board, said the board embarked on a redesign of its market in advance of REV that was influenced by regulatory changes in Europe, particularly the U.K. It included a wide deployment of smart meters and increased renewable energy penetration.

“There is a really strong emphasis on performance measurement. We established scorecards that are customer-focused, with customer service metrics, operational effectiveness, safety, reliability, public policy responsiveness,” he said. “And the board every year publishes a scorecard to compare the distribution companies, to see who’s doing well and who isn’t.”

─ William Opalka