NECPUC has created a 12-month working group to explore issues related to how measures such as retail demand response and load flexibility can serve as resources to address our region’s challenges related to winter energy adequacy and peak demand growth.
To date, most of the discussion on how to address these challenges has been focused on the supply side, e.g., development of new generation resources, construction of new transmission, etc. While these supply side measures are critical to address, the opportunities presented by demand side solutions have been the subject of relatively little discussion. Given that these solutions are generally crafted as retail programs overseen by state regulators, and given the regional nature of the challenges at hand, a NECPUC working group is well-suited to explore both retail program design as well as how individual retail programs may interact with wholesale markets. Please note that this is an informational working group only; NECPUC has no independent regulatory authority.
Chairing the working group is Maine PUC Chairman Phil Bartlett. Additional commissioners participating are (in alphabetical order): Commissioner Riley Allen (Vermont PUC), Commissioner Abigail Anthony (Rhode Island PUC), Commissioner Pradip Chattopadhyay (New Hampshire PUC), Chairman Ron Gerwatowski (Rhode Island PUC), Commissioner Carrie Gilbert (Maine PUC), Chairman Marissa Paslick Gillett (Connecticut PURA), Commissioner Carleton Simpson (New Hampshire PUC), and Chair Jamie Van Nostrand (Massachusetts DPU). Commission staff are also taking part. Stakeholders and members of the public will have opportunities to contribute to the working group’s activities over the course of the year.
Working group information and updates, including announcements for future meetings, will be posted on this page and also distributed to the working group email list. If you would like to join that email list, please send a request to info@necpuc.org.
August, 2024 Update
For the next phase of our work, we are going to shift to a workshop model so that we can hear more directly from all of our stakeholders this fall. For each of these workshops, we will provide an opportunity for written comments to be submitted in advance, followed by an opportunity for discussion at the workshop itself. All comments will subsequently be posted on this working group website.
The workshops will be split into two areas of focus: (1) retail program design issues, and (2) wholesale market issues. We will meet every two weeks, alternating between the two topics, at our usual Friday 11:00am-12:30pm meeting time. The planned schedule through the end of 2024 is noted below, and will be updated as needed. The two tracks are closely related so we do expect and plan for them to cross-pollinate with each other.
These meetings will continue to be virtual, however depending on the pace of the discussions, we may try to organize an in-person/hybrid meeting around the time of the ISO-NE annual public meeting on November 6 in Boston.
Our next meeting will be on Friday, Sept. 13, 11:00am-12:30pm (shifted from Sept. 20 to avoid conflicting with Restructuring Roundtable), focusing on retail program design issues. We would like this initial meeting to be used as a scoping discussion to define the issues that this track should focus on over the course of the coming months. In preparation for this discussion, your written comments are welcome, please submit them to info@necpuc.org by close of business on Thursday, September 5:
- What retail program design considerations do regulators need to take into account to enable more widespread adoption of demand response and load flexibility programs, with a particular focus on programs that will mitigate New England’s winter energy adequacy issues? Examples could include:
- Rate design
- Technology standards
- Consistency across states
- Evaluation, measurement, and verification
- Equity
- Cost-effectiveness
- Retail program visibility for ISO-NE markets, operations, and planning
Comments will be most helpful if they include not only a list of considerations that you think are important, but why you think they are important and how they should be addressed. We will use these comments and the discussion from this meeting to develop our planned agendas for future meetings.
Thank you again for your participation. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Best wishes,
George Twigg, on behalf of the working group
UPCOMING MEETING DATES (all 11:00am-12:30pm):
- Sept. 13 (retail)
- Oct. 4 (wholesale)
- Oct. 18 (retail)
- Nov. 1 (wholesale)
- Nov. 15 (retail)
- Dec. 6 (wholesale)
- Dec. 20 (retail)
- Additional meetings TBD
Prior Meeting Materials
February 29, 2024
Video recording of the meeting. Passcode: T5y?nHQ&
Presentation from Stephen George, Director, Operational Performance, Training & Integration ISO-NE
Presentation from Dan Schwarting, Manager, Transmission Planning, ISO-NE
March 29, 2024
Video recording of the meeting (note: recording started 25 minutes after meeting began). Passcode: u&7T@S69
Presentation from Hantz Presume’, Director of Transmission Planning, VELCO
Presentation from Bob Manning and Rob Whelan, Avangrid Networks
Presentation from Josh Tom, National Grid
May 3, 2024
Video recording of the meeting. Passcode: ZmK2$q?n
Presentation from Avery McEvoy, Senior Associate, Rocky Mountain Institute
Presentation from Mary Sprayregen, Global Head of Regulatory Affairs & Market Development, Oracle
Presentation from John Greene, Policy and Regulatory Affairs Manager, Piclo
May 21, 2024 (NECPUC Symposium Panel, no recording available)
Panelists:
• Elizabeth Anderson, Chief, Energy & Ratepayer Advocacy Division, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office
• Presentation from Jennifer Downing, Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office
• Presentation from Stephen George, Manager, Operational Performance, Training, and Integration, ISO New England
• Presentation from Chris McCusker, Vice President, Energy Efficiency and Clean Transportation Programs, National Grid
June 21, 2024
Video recording of the meeting. Passcode: 2*5E1%FD
Presentation from Dr. Sanem Sergici, Principal, The Brattle Group
Presentation from Sarah Cullinan, Senior Director, Net Zero Grid Program, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Presentation from Brandon Crawford, Regulatory Advocate, Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota
Future meeting topics and dates TBA.