Electricity Dialogue

Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern - Resiliency & Evolving Electricity Systems

TBD 2020 (Chicago, IL)

Due to the quickly evolving COVID-19 global health emergency, the upcoming Northwestern Electricity Dialogue originally to be held Monday, April 27-Tuesday, April 28, 2020, will be postponed until fall 2020.

We are very disappointed to have to postpone the event, but considering the current situation this is the responsible thing to do in order to ensure everyone’s safety.

We intend to reschedule the event for later this year and we very much hope that you can still participate. Our tentative plan is to roll the agenda over to the new dates but it is possible that other more topical issues may come to our attention that would be more useful to explore.

We very much appreciate your understanding

Electricity Dialogue on Transitioning West: Evolution of Wholesale Markets, Renewables Integration, and Transmission Planning

December 5-6, 2019 (Park City, Utah)

The Center on Law, Business, and Economics at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, is proud to be co-sponsoring this event with the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law

This Dialogue, will unite a select group of regulators, policymakers, industry representatives, NGOs, and academic experts to participate in substantive, challenging and thought-provoking conversations on the issues reshaping the region's electricity landscape.

The event will feature Keynote Addresses by Stefan Bird (CEO, Pacific Power) and Steve Berberich (CEO, California Independent System Operator).

Topics covered will include:

Transmission Planning: Lessons From the “East”
The Ongoing Evolution of Western Energy Markets
Fire & the Western Electricity Systems: Impacts and Options
Getting from Here to There in the West (Meeting Customer Needs & Desires, Transitions in Generation Portfolios, Integrating Renewables, EVs & DERs…Offering Choices and Aligning Differing Business & Regulatory Paradigms)

AGENDA (pdf)

PARTICIPANT BIOS (pdf)

Background Materials

Session Four

The BottomUp (R)Evolution of the Electric Power: System The Pathway to the Integrated Decentralized System (Lorenzo Kristov)
The Radical Reform Necessary to Prepare California’s Power System for the 21st Century (David Roberts)

For additional information and registration infomration on this program, please send a message to clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern - Energy and Capacity: Transitions?

May 6-7, 2019 (Chicago, IL)

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is once again pleased to host the 6th Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern, on May 6-7, 2019 (noon-to-noon) at its Chicago Campus (located near Chicago's Magnificent Mile). Like previous Dialogues, this Electricity Dialogue unites a select group of regulators, policymakers, industry representatives, NGOs, and academic experts from the center of the country to participate in substantive, challenging and thought-provoking conversations on the issues reshaping the region's electricity landscape. Now in its sixth year, sponsors will include Edison Electric Institute, MISO, and PJM.

Agenda and Participant List (pdf)

For registration details please contact: searlecenter@law.northwestern.edu.

Wholesale Markets, States, and Renewables: DG, DER & EVs in the West

November 29-30, 2018 (Park City, Utah)

The Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, is proud to be co-sponsoring this event with the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), and Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP.

The intent of this program is to bring together key thought leaders from the electricity industry, i.e. utility and industry executives, NGOs, regulators and academics, to discuss deeply important issues of the day.

Agenda and Participant List (pdf)

Topics include:

Wholesale Markets and Innovation in the West: Where Do We Stand Today?
Resilience, Reliability, and Affordability: What Makes the West Unique and What Do Wholesale Markets have to Offer?
The Role of States in Wholesale Electric Markets
Electricity System Changes, Wholesale Markets, and Getting from “Here to There” for Renewables, EVs, DER, and Advanced Technologies

Background Materials

Session Three

California’s Distributed Energy Resources Action Plan: Aligning Vision and Action (May 3, 2017)

Electricity Dialogue 2018

Monday, May 7, 2018 - Tuesday, May 8, 2018

The Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is once again pleased to host the 5^th Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern, on May 7-8 (noon-to-noon) at its Chicago Campus (located near Chicago's Magnificent Mile). Like previous Dialogues, this Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern unites a select group of regulators, policymakers, industry representatives, NGOs, and academic experts from the center of the country to participate in substantive, challenging and thought-provoking conversations on the issues reshaping the region's electricity landscape.

Now in its fifth year, this year's event sponsors will include Edison Electric Institute, MISO, and PJM.

This year's theme will be “Managing the Present While Preparing for the Future.”

Agenda and Participant List (pdf)

For additional information please contact the Searle Center at searlecenter@law.northwestern.edu.

2017 Sponsors

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law thanks the following for serving as sponsors:

MISO Grid 2033: Preparing for the Future

Wednesday, November 29-Thursday, November 30, 2017

Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch

As dramatic forces shape the energy landscape, a robust, flexible and prepared electric transmission grid is vital. To help assure that the Midcontinent has the grid we want and need, the Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; the Center for Energy Studies at Louisiana State University; and the Midwestern Governors Association are collaborating to start a regional conversation on four major themes:

What are the long-term needs and expectations of the MISO grid for current grid owners and the new energy technologies and their providers?
What do (and will) customers and ratepayers expect, need and deserve long-term?
How can we help make sure the MISO electricity grid is ready to enable job creation and promote economic development, as well as reliability and economic efficiency?
What we can do to ensure that the right energy infrastructure investments are made to meet these identified needs?

MISO Grid 2033: Preparing for the Transmission Grid of the Future
LSU Center for Energy Studies White Paper

Agenda and Participant List (pdf)

Participant Bios (pdf)

For additional information, please send an email to searlecenter@law.northwestern.edu.

2017

Monday, May 1, 2017 - Tuesday, May 2, 2017

The electricity industry in the central portion of the United States is different from other regions of the country. It is less restructured, has more vertically-integrated, rate-regulated utilities; is more rural with longer transmission lines; its big cities are not the megalopolises of the coasts; use more wind and coal; are laced by MISO, SPP & PJM RTO seams; with vibrant economies yet large aging heavy industries. These differences mean that the forces reshaping the industry (low natural gas prices, declining renewable costs, Clean Power Plan, customer empowerment, advancing technologies, declining load) are national their affects are local and regional.

It is with this in mind that the Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is once again pleased to host the Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern, on May 1-2 (noon-to-noon) at its Chicago Campus (located near Chicago's Magnificent Mile). Like previous Dialogues, this Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern unites a select group of regulators, policymakers, industry representatives, NGOs, and academic experts from the center of the country to participate in substantive, challenging and thought-provoking conversations on the issues reshaping the region's electricity landscape.

The Dialogue will feature a Keynote Address by Tony Clark, Senior Advisor, Wilkinson, Barker & Knauer and Former FERC Commissioner.

Topics will include:

An RTO Perspective: Reliability and the Challenges with Integrating RE, DG, DER’s and NG
Planning Distribution System Investments Given DER Growth
Energy Infrastructure: Making Sure We Have What We Need When and Where We Need it to Assure Reliability, Security, & Resiliency 24/7/365
Customer Focused Solutions Regarding Distribution – How Can All Players Participate?

For additional information on this event, please email the Searle Center at searlecenter@law.northwestern.edu.

Agenda (pdf)

2017 Sponsors

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law thanks the following for serving as sponsors:

2016

Monday, April 25, 2016 - Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Agenda (pdf)

It is with this in mind that the Searle Center at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is once again pleased to host the Third annual Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern, on April 25-26 (noon-to-noon) at its Chicago Campus (located near Chicago's Magnificent Mile). Like previous Dialogues, this Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern unites a select group of regulators, policymakers, industry representatives, NGOs, and academic experts from the center of the country to participate in substantive, challenging and thought-provoking conversations on the issues reshaping the region's electricity landscape.

Dialogue topics will include:

Job Creation, Economic Development, Technological Innovations and the "Gas-Electricity Intersect."
How are customers' electricity expectations changing and how can regulators and utilities best meet those expectations? How can the midcontinent states unlock the economic potential of technologies like energy storage, energy efficiency, demand response, and renewable energy?
What does the US EPA's Clean Power Plan it mean for the midcontinent region? How can, will & should the states and region? How will new technologies fit?
Does cost-of-service, rate regulation survive the twenty-first century challenges of decarbonization and environmental compliance, renewables integration, consumer-empowering new technologies, and evolving wholesale markets? Or is a new regulatory compact necessary based on a new utility business model?

The Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern promises to be provocative, interactive discussions that deepen understanding of the Region's distinctive and unique strengths, weaknesses, and future vision, challenging our thinking and opening up vistas of new ideas.

2016 Sponsors

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law thanks the following for serving as sponsors: