In a MISO first, members and leadership probed what environmental justice means in its 15-state footprint and what role the RTO can play in ensuring more equitable grid impacts.
Speaking at the Advisory Committee’s meeting Wednesday, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commissioner Sarah Freeman said multiple sectors are beginning to grapple with how to make sure no community bears a disproportionate share of the harmful effects of energy and industrial production.
EDF Renewables’ Adam Sokolski, representing the Independent Power Producers sector, said it’s long overdue for energy companies to build infrastructure with environmental justice in mind.
But it’s still unclear what MISO’s role could be in supporting environmental justice, Board of Directors Chair Phyllis Currie said. “We are not on the front line of interacting with the end-use customers.”
Multiple stakeholders said MISO could open more avenues of participation and outreach.
“It’s not possible to have a full conversation on this topic without involving the communities that are involved,” Union of Concerned Scientists’ James Gignac pointed out.
Gignac’s colleague Sam Gomberg said at last month’s committee meeting that a discussion on environmental justice would ring hollow unless MISO members and the board either speak with impacted members of an environmentally disadvantaged community before a discussion, or invite them to a meeting.
Director H.B. “Trip” Doggett asked how MISO members would engage with the public.
Gignac asked that MISO create an environmental justice and equity initiative and bring impacted communities into stakeholder discussions.
Transmission-Dependent Utilities sector representative Kevin Van Oirschot, of Consumers Energy, also suggested MISO could do more to include underserved populations in its stakeholder process.
Public Consumer Advocates sector representative Christina Baker said MISO’s current policy of having two public consumer advocates on the AC is a good start. She suggested that the RTO select a board member with a background in public advocacy.
The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Elizabeth Toba Pearlman said MISO could ask itself if its stakeholder community is representative of the general public. “Even if MISO isn’t tasked with the engagement of the end-use customer, I think there’s value to [it] reaching out.”
Director Barbara Krumsiek noted PricewaterhouseCoopers’ recently announced hiring spree, where it will add 100,000 employees over the next five years to focus on inequality, climate change, pandemic fallout and technological disruption.
Other stakeholders said grid planning is often too siloed a process to maintain cohesive environmental justice goals across utilities, generation developers, transmission owners and state regulators. Some said environmental justice is largely a matter for state and local governments and the regulators who make transmission and generation siting decisions.
Freeman said MISO could keep tabs on members’ environmental justice efforts and note regions that might be lacking.
Manitoba Hydro’s Audrey Penner noted that in her province, it’s law that her company consult with First Nations tribes before embarking on a project. She said Manitoba Hydro considers how to undo or mitigate past harms in project planning.
Sokolski said stateside, a bright spot is MISO’s transitional period of “retire and rebuild” — which is giving members opportunities to replace polluting, conventional generation with cleaner generation — contemplates impacts to marginalized communities.
