CLG elects Coordinating Committee, discusses the future of the energy system at December meeting

The Consumer Liaison Group (CLG) held its final quarterly meeting of the year on Dec. 2, 2020. Conducted over webinar, the meeting featured the CLG Coordinating Committee (CLGCC) election, an ISO update, and a panel discussion entitled, Clean Energy & Regional Markets: The New England States’ and Other Visions of the Future.

Election for 2021-2022 term

Rebecca Tepper, chair of the CLGCC and chief of the Energy and Telecommunications Division at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, provided opening remarks before kicking off the CLGCC’s sixth biennial election.

Tepper discussed the CLG bylaws and highlighted that:

• Those elected will serve on the CLGCC during the 2021-2022 timeframe;
• The CLGCC may be made of up to twelve individuals; six members and six alternates;
• Eligible members must be a relevant stakeholder; for example, commercial ratepayers or state regulators;
• No New England state may have more than four CLGCC members;
• The intention of the six members CLGCC is to have a representative from each state; and
• Once elected, the CLGCC choses the chair from amongst its members.

The CLG nominated 15 people — including new and sitting CLGCC members — to fill 12 CLGCC seats.

The twelve CLGCC members for the 2021-2022 term are as follows:

• Connecticut: Eric Annes and Dave Thompson
• Maine: Andrew Landry
• Massachusetts: Rebecca Tepper, Robert Rio, and Mary Smith
• New Hampshire: August “Gus” Fromuth and D. Maurice “Don” Kreis
• Rhode Island: Douglas Gablinski and Hank Webster
• Vermont: Deena Frankel and James Porter

ISO New England update

Eric Johnson, director of external affairs, provided the ISO New England update, including the ISO’s 2020/2021 Winter Outlook; recent orders from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the ISO’s Energy Security Initiative and distributed energy resources; preparations for the fifteenth Forward Capacity Auction; and wholesale electricity market value projections for 2020.

Panel Discussion on the future of the power system

A panel of industry stakeholders then discussed Clean Energy & Regional Markets: The New England States’ and Other Visions of the Future.

Panelists included:

• Moderator, Robert Rio, CLGCC Member
• Heather Hunt, executive director of the New England State Committee on Electricity (NESCOE)
• Dave Cavanaugh, chair, New England Power Pool (NEPOOL)
• Robert Ethier, vice president, system planning, ISO New England
• Doug Hurley, principle associate, Synapse Energy Economics, Inc.

Panelists discussed NESCOE’s recently released Vision Statement, the role of NEPOOL in regional stakeholder discussions, market design, harmonizing markets with state policy goals, and the future of transmission planning and investment.

2021 Dates

The 2021 quarterly meetings of the CLG will take place at locations to be determined on the following dates:

• Thursday, March 11
• Thursday, June 17
• Thursday, Sept. 9
• Wednesday, Dec. 1