Jackie Roberts, federal policy adviser for the West Virginia Public Service Commission and a pillar of PJM’s relationship with state consumer advocates and regulators, announced her retirement Oct. 8, capping a 14-year career with the state.

Roberts has worked for the PSC since January 2021, when she joined after serving as the West Virginia consumer advocate for more than a decade. Her final day with the PSC is Nov. 12.

The hallmarks of her career, Roberts told RTO Insider, include her work establishing the Consumer Advocates of the PJM States (CAPS) and breaking PJM’s internal market monitoring unit off as an independent company, Monitoring Analytics.

The creation of CAPS, and the funding that came with it, has improved consumer advocates’ participation at PJM and allowed them to take a more proactive role in the stakeholder process, she said.

Greg Poulos, executive director of CAPS, said Roberts has a gift for bringing people together and has made a positive impact on consumers through her advocacy.

“Throughout the time I’ve known Jackie, she has been a strong advocate, with an incredible wealth of knowledge, passion and strong communication skills,” Poulos said. “For me, her efforts to connect and collaborate with all parties that are interested has helped create many successful outcomes. Her efforts to encourage collaboration have made her involvement in stakeholder processes at state, regional and federal levels incredibly valuable.”

The Independent Market Monitor has also been a success, Roberts said, preventing undue RTO influence on the monitoring role.

She expressed concern, however, that the Monitor’s work could be jeopardized by contract deliberations that have been ongoing for more than a year regarding the future of the position. “It causes disruption for the Market Monitor and his staff and considerable angst on behalf of the commission,” she said.

Surveying the challenges facing the PJM region, Roberts said resource adequacy is a growing concern, as well as the cost of electricity, noting a significant increase in Base Residual Auction prices with the potential for another fourfold increase in the auction scheduled for December. (See “Price Cap Increases in 2026/2027 BRA Planning Parameters,” PJM MIC Briefs: Sept. 11, 2024.)

“Many people will simply not be able to afford electricity. I know PJM will say, ‘That’s not what we do; that’s what the states do,’” she said. But she argued that PJM plays a role in the costs for retail ratepayers.

State utility commissions are on the front lines of managing rising rates, but PJM has not given their recommendations the proper weight when making decisions about capacity market design and the generation interconnection queue, Roberts argued. She pointed to a protest the PSC filed with FERC seeking participation in PJM’s Liaison Committee. (See FERC Rejects Complaints from IMM, W.Va. PSC Arguing for Access to PJM Liaison Committee.)

“I think it takes good leadership at PJM to balance and implement the appropriate stakeholder input,” she said. “I’m concerned that PJM is just managing those stakeholders and not taking leadership to incorporate really good suggestions into their operations.”

Roberts has held positions on the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, NERC’s Member Representatives Committee, the Keystone Policy Center’s Energy Board and the executive committee of Edison Electric Institute’s Critical Consumer Issues Forum. She continues to serve on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee.

Prior to her time in West Virginia, Roberts worked as an attorney at the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel and as corporate counsel for electric and natural gas utilities in New England.

PJM Senior Vice President of Governmental and Member Services Asim Haque, also former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, said Roberts will be missed.

“Jackie has been not only an important voice in this industry, but she’s also been a friend to me going back to my Ohio days,” he said. “She will definitely be missed professionally, and I’ll miss her personally.”

West Virginia PSC Chair Charlotte Lane said Roberts “brought a lot of knowledge and insight into her position as our federal liaison. She will be missed.”

Emile Thompson chair of the District of Columbia Public Service Commission and current OPSI president, said of Roberts’ retirement: “Jackie has been an amazing colleague to work with over the past few years.  She has been a fierce advocate for the citizens of West Virginia, the W.V. PSC and OPSI.  Whenever Jackie spoke, I was sure to listen, and her institutional knowledge will certainly be missed.”

“Jackie Roberts has been an important participant in the PJM stakeholder process in a range of capacities,” said Joe Bowring, independent market monitor. “Jackie has been a strong and effective advocate for customers, for the role of state public utility commissions, for rational PJM governance, for efficient and competitive markets, and for a truly independent market monitor.”

The complex, challenging work found in the electric sector, as well as the opportunity to work with a diverse range of stakeholders, has kept her interested for nearly 20 years. Roberts said she hasn’t decided what her future in the electric sector may look like, but she plans to spend much more time riding her horse.

“It has been a great privilege to work on PJM issues for the last almost 20 years. I’ve learned a lot. I appreciate the professional relationships I have developed through that process, and I appreciate what could be robust differences of opinion. What’s important is we move forward with what’s in the best interest of retail and wholesale customers.”