Electricity Dialogue

Electricity Dialogue

Northwestern Electricity Dialogue on “The State-RTO Partnership: Policies, Markets, Reliability, and the Energy Transition"

Monday, April 22-Tuesday, April 23, 2024

This in-person 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 Dialogue will feature a Keynote Discussion featuring Manu Asthana (President and CEO, PJM Interconnection) and John Bear (CEO, MISO), moderated by Julie Fedorchak  (Commissioner, North Dakota Public Service Commission; President, National Association of Regulatory Commissioners) and a Keynote Address by Amanda Rome (Executive Vice President and Group President, Utilities and Chief Customer Officer, Xcel Energy).

The Center on Law, Business, and Economics at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, is proud to co-sponsor this event with the Edison Electric Institute; MISO; PJM Interconnection; Southwest Power Pool (SPP); and Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP.

Agenda and Attendee List (pdf)

If you have any questions, please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 

 


Northwestern Electricity Dialogue on “Resilience, Reliability, and Regionality in the Western Interconnect: Bringing It Altogether"

Thursday November 30-Friday, December 1, 2023 (Park City, Utah)

This in-person 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 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.  Additional sponsors include Edison Electric Institute; Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP; the California Independent System Operator (CAISO); and Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

The Dialogue will feature Keynote Addresses by Allison Clements (Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) and Steve Wright (Board Member and Chair of the Interim Markets+ Independent Panel, Southwest Power Pool).

Agenda and Attendee List (pdf)

Participant Bios (pdf)

For registration information please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


Northwestern Electricity Dialogue on “Harmonizing the Gas and Electric Industries: Weather, Markets, and Reliability"

Thursday, October 5-Friday, October 6, 2023

This in-person 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 and gas landscape.

Agenda and Participant List (pdf)

Participant Bios (pdf)

Background Materials

 

For registration information please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


Electricity Dialogue on The Energy Transition: What Does it Mean and How Is It Going?

Monday, May 8-Tuesday, May 9, 2023

This in-person 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 Center on Law, Business, and Economics at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, is proud to be co-sponsoring this event with Edison Electric Institute (EEI), Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), PJM Interconnection, and Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

The Dialogue will feature Keynote Addresses by Clair J. Moeller (President and Chief Operating Officer, MISO ) and Paul Marushka (CEO and President, Sphera Solutions).

Agenda and Participant List (pdf)

Participant Bios (pdf)

 

 


Electricity Dialogue on Electricity System Adaptation: Solving the Issues of the West

Thursday December 1-Friday, December 2, 2022 (Park City, Utah)

This in-person 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 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.  Additional sponsors include Edison Electric Institute; Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP; and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). 

The Dialogue will feature Keynote Addresses by Richard Glick (Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) and Elliot Mainzer (President and Chief Executive Officer, California Independent System Operator (CAISO)).

Agenda (pdf)

Participant Bios (pdf)

 

Sessions

  • Session One — Weather Impacts on Resiliency & Resource Adequacy
    The lands are parched! A record-breaking drought is affecting everyone and everything.  This panel will discuss the drought’s impacts and how the region’s electricity providers are handling the resulting complications on electricity production and delivery.

  • Session Two — Transmission: How To Get It Done? 
    Since it seems to be well-recognized that more transmission is needed throughout the West to assure reliability, enhance resiliency, enable economic delivery, etc., this panel will tackle how to move beyond the discussion of transmission needs to the difficult issues of how to get more interregional transmission planned and built.  What are the barriers and how can/should they be overcome?

  •  Session Three — Electrification: Can We Have Our Cake & Eat It Too? 

    The pressures, desires, and economics of electrification of everything, from transportation to space heating is likely to put significant pressures on an already strained regional bulk power system.  But, with resource adequacy constraints, weather changes, and other pressures, is a hard push toward electrification just too much?  Can the system handle it?  Are we asking too much, too fast? This panel will discuss these questions, as well as attempt to explain how everything will come together

  • Session Four — Nesting Dolls: Working Together to Solve State and Regional Issues
    This panel will discuss how the multiple jurisdictional authorities in the West strive to work together to address common regional issues. States and their utility regulators have very clear jurisdictional lines, but the region requires solutions beyond state lines to provide reliable, resilient, and lowest cost power.  How can regional dialogue (and the development of regional solutions) be encouraged and/or enhanced without hindering a commissioner’s ability to meet the needs in their particular state?

 

For additional information including registration details for this program, please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


 

Electricity Dialogue on The Transitioning Electricity System: Resiliency, Reliability, and Renewables

Monday, April 25-Tuesday, April 26, 2022

This in-person 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.

 

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

Participant Bios (pdf)

 

For registration details, please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Gas and Power Price Spikes: Understanding the Trend and Protecting Consumers

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

 

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Resource Adequacy, Decarbonization, and Reliability: Making It Happen in the West

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

  

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Multi-Value Transmission Projects and Lessons for Transmission Planning

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

 

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

7th Circ. Pauses Federal Suit Over Wis. Transmission Line
October 21, 2021 (Law360)

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Aligning the Natural Gas and Electricity Industries: Infrastructure and Business Practices

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

 

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Biden Energy Plan at 100 Days: A Look Back and a Glance Forward

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

Opening Remarks: “You can’t tell the Players Without a Program: Overview of Biden Administration Appointments and Legislation” (Presentation Slides)
Kevin Gunn, Principal, Paladin Energy Strategies 

 

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Cars, Chargers, and Customers: Electric Utilities and EVs

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Delivering 100% Carbon-Free Energy: Options & Issues

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Transmission Planning: Preparing the Grid to do Everything

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Innovation & Customer Choice in Retail Energy Markets

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

Background Materials for Session Two - Can Retail Competition Deliver Product Innovation and System Integration?

Leveraging Competitive Markets to Unlock the True Value of AMI
Michael P. Kagan, Senior Vice President, Concentric Advisors

The Future of Electricity Retailing and How We Get There
Frank A. Wolak, Director, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD); Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in the Department of Economics at Stanford University
Ian H. Hardman, Research Associate, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD), Stanford University

 

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Resource Adequacy in the West:  Evolution and Growth in a Period of Transition

Friday, December 11, 2020

Resource Adequacy has historically been assured by a load serving entity’s demonstration that it owns or controls adequate generation to reliably meet peak demand, plus a margin, on its peak day. For many, not all, that would be a hot summer day. Regions with shared resource adequacy programs enjoy improved system reliability at reduced cost as the risk of system failure is lessened through mutual support. Regional resource adequacy programs also have the potential to assist with ensuring state energy policy goals are integrated with resource adequacy requirements. While geographically broad resource adequacy constructs are common in RTO/ISO environments, it is not the norm in the west outside California. However, regional resource adequacy has become one of the most pressing topics of discussion in the west as the region works to assure reliability in times of great change in the generation resource mix. This webinar will explore the dialogue among stakeholders as well as the regulatory issues associated with the evolving vision of regional resource adequacy in the west.  What are the necessary components of a resource adequacy program, who administers such a program, how are participants held to their obligations, and how would the program impact utilities and customers?

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Electricity Regulation in a Post-Election World

Friday, November 13, 2020

What will change and what will stay the same based on the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. Will a re-elected Trump Administration feel more emboldened to make substantial changes to energy policy and energy regulations? How will a new Biden Administration and its energy policy impact regulation and who will be the key players? Come hear the experts talk about these possibilities and more!

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Resiliency and Evolving Electricity Systems I

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

 

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - Resiliency and Evolving Electricity Systems II

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

 

Agenda and Registration List (pdf)

 

For registration details please contact clbe@law.northwestern.edu.

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - The COVID-19 Pandemic and Utilities: Customer Hardship & Economic Recovery

August 4, 2020

 

The Northwestern Center on Law, Business, and Economics at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law will hold an Electricity Dialogue Webinar on “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Utilities: Customer Hardship & Economic Recovery” on Tuesday, August 4, 2020. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has had many adverse consequences.  Besides the illnesses, individual tragedies, and disrupted lives, it has resulted in dramatic economic disruption across the world and the United States.  This Dialogue will discuss these impacts on utilities and their residential and business customers, as well as the things utilities and their regulators and stakeholders can do to reduce the adverse consequences and help lay the groundwork for the recovery.

This Electricity Dialogue Webinar, 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.

Agenda (pdf)

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - "Can FERC’s Markets and State Clean Energy Policies Work Together?"

June 30, 2020

 

The Northwestern Center on Law, Business, and Economics at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law will hold an Electricity Dialogue Webinar on “Can FERC’s Markets and State Clean Energy Policies Work Together?” on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. 

Please note that this invitation-only webinar event is free of charge for all attendees. 

This Electricity Dialogue Webinar, 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.

Agenda (pdf)

 

White Paper

Can FERC’s Markets and State Clean Energy Policies Work Together?
David Boyd, AESL Consulting; former MISO VP, Government and Regulatory Affairs and member of the MN PUC from 2007 to 2015. The contents and thoughts of this paper are his alone.

 


Electricity Dialogue Webinar - "Pipes & Wires: Getting Energy Infrastructure Development 'Right' in a Fast-Changing World"

June 23, 2020

 

The Northwestern Center on Law, Business, and Economics at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law will hold an Electricity Dialogue Webinar on “Pipes & Wires: Getting Energy Infrastructure Development ‘Right’ in a Fast-Changing World” on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. 

The webinar will feature an opening Keynote Address by Neil Chatterjee, Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). See full agenda details below. 

Please note that this invitation-only webinar event is free of charge for all attendees. 

This Electricity Dialogue Webinar, 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.

Agenda (pdf)

 


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)

 


For additional information and registration information 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

   


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 5th 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

EEI

PJM

 

 


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:

AEEI

EEI

MISO PJM

 


2016

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

Agenda (pdf)

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 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:

AEEI

EEI

MISO PJM