| 8:00am - 5:00pm |
Registration at Convention Center |
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Breakfast on your own. Hot breakfast available at the hotel for those staying at the Residence Inn. |
| 8:30am - 9:00am |
Welcome and Opening Remarks |
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Sam Watson, General Counsel, North Carolina Utilities Commission and 2025 NCRA President |
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Opening Remarks by Commissioner Floyd B. McKissick North Carolina Utilities Commission |
| 9:00am - 10:00am |
Session 1: “Justice” in Utility Regulation: What Can We Learn from Pope Francis and Milton Friedman, from our Statutes and our Constitution? |
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An examination of how economic regulation, and government economic regulators, can advance or impede progress in bringing economic justice to infrastructural industries — industries on which lives, and the nation’s economy, depend. The session covers justice principles (including the writings of Pope Francis, John Rawls, and Milton Friedman), classic economic principles, constitutional clauses, and regulatory statutes. Attendees will consider whether economic regulation, when conducted by legislators, regulators, and courts, has any obligation to produce just results; and if so, what “just results” means. |
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Scott Hempling, Attorney at Law |
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Economic Justice in the Regulation of Infrastructural Industries: What is the Role of Law? |
| 10:00am - 10:15am |
Break |
| 10:15am - 11:15am |
Session 2: Let’s Talk About Fair Market Value |
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James Cawley, Attorney at Law Former Chairman, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission |
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A focus on the Fair Market Valuation (FMV) of municipal water and wastewater systems, with a particular emphasis on their acquisition by large public utilities, and an exploration of the growing trend of legislation championed in over a dozen states addressing the FMV of these systems, providing key insights into the complexities, challenges, and implications of such acquisitions. |
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Let's Talk About Fair Market Value |
| 11:15am - 12:15pm |
Session 3: NAESB 101 |
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The North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited, non-profit 501(c)(6) corporation formed with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) more than 30 years ago as an industry forum for the purpose of developing voluntary business practice standards designed to promote more competitive and efficient natural gas and electric markets. The organization’s history of successful standards development has been made possible with the strong support of the DoE, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and state utility commissions, among many other governmental agencies at both the federal and state level. |
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Jonathan Booe, Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, North American Energy Standards Board |
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NAESB 101 |
| 12:15pm - 1:30pm |
Buffet Lunch |
| 1:30pm - 2:15pm |
Session 4: The Washington Report |
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A summary of recent legislative, administrative agency, and Presidential activities affecting State utility commissions and the utility industry. |
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James Bradford “Brad” Ramsay, General Counsel National Association of Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) |
| 2:15pm - 3:15pm |
Session 5: Legal Ethics Jeopardy Returns — Now with 100% MORE Footnotes |
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An entertaining focus on State utility commission attorneys’ ethical obligations, representing their own commissions and practicing before others. |
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Sam Brumberg, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & General Counsel Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives |
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Legal Ethics Jeopardy Returns |
| 3:15pm - 3:30pm |
Break |
| 3:30pm - 4:15pm |
Session 6: Nuclear Update: Small Modular Reactors, Co-located Load |
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This session will take a close look at emerging opportunities for the development of new nuclear resources, in light of recent regulatory developments and anticipated economic activity, as well as several cases working their way through the federal courts that could impact the landscape for the development. |
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Charlotte A. Mitchell, Partner, McGuireWoods LLP Former Chair, North Carolina Utilities Commission, Moderator |
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Matthew Price, Executive Vice President and General Counsel Constellation Energy Corporation |
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Price Slides |
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Jerry Bonanno, Deputy General Counsel, Nuclear Energy Institute |
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Bonanno Slides |
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E. Brett Breitschwerdt, Partner, McGuireWoods LLP |
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Breitschwerdt Slides |
| 4:15pm - 5:00pm |
Session 7: BIAS in Federal Law: Four Decisions in 10 Years on Whether Internet Service is Information Service or Telecommunications |
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An exploration of the major agency and court decisions over the last decade regarding broadband internet access service (BIAS), and its regulation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as either an information service or a telecommunications service under federal law, and whether the FCC may impose nondiscriminatory net neutrality rules. |
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Joeseph Witmer, Attorney at Law |
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Net Neutrality Decision Documents |
| 5:30pm - 8:00pm |
Dinner at Residence Inn (Red Bird Meeting Room) |
| 8:00am - 1:00pm |
Registration at Convention Center |
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Breakfast on your own. Hot breakfast available at the hotel for those staying at the Residence Inn. |
| 8:30am - 9:30am |
Session 8: Bulk Electric System Reliability: Roles and Responsibilities |
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Reliability of the bulk electric system is a team effort. From developing and enforcing standards, launching resource adequacy initiatives, and resource planning and siting, keeping the lights on requires a multilayered approach of coordination and collaboration. Panelists will share their reliability roles and responsibilities, offer insight around the significant changes occurring across the electric industry, and explore efforts to address near-term and long-term reliability challenges. |
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Jon Tauber, Director, Enforcement and Legal SERC Reliability Corporation, Moderator |
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Holly Hawkins, General Counsel, SERC Reliability Corporation |
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Hawkins Presentation |
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Michael Kessler, Assistant General Counsel Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) |
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Kessler Presentation |
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Chris Ayers, Executive Director North Carolina Utilities Commission — Public Staff |
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Ayers Presentation |
| 9:30am - 10:30am |
Session 9: Practice Before an Administrative Law Judge |
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Panelists will share helpful pointers from their experiences acting as and appearing before administrative law judges, from witnesses to professionalism to insights into the decision-making process. |
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Bridgette Frazier, Administrative Law Judge Arkansas Public Service Commission, Moderator |
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Elizabeth H. Barnes, Deputy Chief Counsel, Law Bureau Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission |
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Nicholas Walstra, Senior Utilities Examiner Public Utilities Commission of Ohio |
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Josh Sundt, Senior Staff Attorney North Carolina Utilities Commission |
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ALJ Panel Discussion |
| 10:30am - 10:45am |
Break |
| 10:45am - 11:45am |
Session 10: Character and Ethics for Commission Staff Attorneys |
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As public servants, attorneys at public utility commissions are particularly expected to engage in the highest ethical conduct and act with utmost professionalism. This panel will explore the ethical duties and responsibilities of government attorneys, particularly commission attorneys, as they advise and appear before commissioners charged with looking out for the public interest. |
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Henry Walker, Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Former General Counsel, Tennessee Public Service Commission, Moderator |
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Kenneth Townsend, Professor, Wake Forest Law School Executive Director of Leadership and Character in the Professional Schools |
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Rick Simpson, Partner, Wiley Rein Adjunct Professor, UNC Law School |
| 11:45am - 12:15pm |
Session 11: Rapid Growth of Data Centers |
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A focus on efforts to address the rapid growth of data centers — especially those supporting Artificial Intelligence, the resulting increase in electricity demand, the impact on utility costs, and the effect on existing utility customers. |
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Lisa R. Youngers, Legal and Regulatory Consultant |
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Lucas Fykes, Director of Energy Policy, Data Center Coalition |
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Nanette Edwards, Partner, Burr & Forman, LLP |
| 12:15pm - 1:10pm |
Boxed Lunch |
| 1:00pm - 5:00pm |
Explore/Dinner On Your Own |
| 8:00am - 1:00pm |
Registration at Convention Center |
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Breakfast on your own. Hot breakfast available at the hotel for those staying at the Residence Inn. |
| 8:30am - 9:30am |
Session 12: Regulatory Options to Combat the Spreading Risk of Wildfires |
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Wildfires are becoming more common across the nation, from the East to the West Coast and areas in between. State legislatures and public utility commissions are exploring the use of wildfire mitigation plans to combat the increasing risk of damage due to wildfires caused by power lines and ultimately reducing costs to the utility and its customers. |
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Michael Grant, Administrative Law Judge Oregon Public Utilities Commission |
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Regulatory Options to Combat the Spreading Risk of Wildfires |
| 9:30am - 9:45am |
Break |
| 9:45am - 10:45am |
Session 13: The Universal Service Fund at 28: Navigating Its Legacy, Future, and Impact on State Telecommunications Regulation |
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established the Universal Service Fund (USF) in 1997 pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to subsidize telephone service for customers in rural, low-income, and high-cost regions, and more recently has expanded the fund to support broadband universal service. This panel will explore what we have accomplished, where we are, and where we are headed with USF. |
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Mignon Clyburn, Principal, MLC Strategies, LLC Former Chair, Federal Communications Commission, Moderator |
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Nanette Edwards, Partner, Burr & Forman, LLP |
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Joeseph Witmer, Attorney at Law |
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Douglas Meredith, Economic Advisor, John Staurulakis, LLC (JSI) |
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Carlton Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Horry Telephone Cooperative |
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Presentation Materials |
| 10:45am - 11:45am |
Session 14: Gas-Electric Coordination |
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Since the cold weather event in the Southwest in 2011, efforts have been undertaken to consider increased coordination between the electric and natural gas industries. At the request of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a further industry effort was made through the NAESB Gas-Electric Harmonization Forum after 2021’s Winter Storm Uri and 2022’s Winter Storm Elliott. This panel will provide an update on progress made as a result of these efforts to prevent future power outages and lost lives. |
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Andrew Tubbs, President & Chief Executive Officer Energy Association of Pennsylvania |
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Matthew Agen, Chief Regulatory Counsel, Energy American Gas Association |
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Brian J Fitzpatrick, Principal Fuel Supply Strategist PJM Interconnection |
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Fitzpatrick Presentation |
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Charlotte A. Mitchell, Partner, McGuireWoods LLP Former Chair, North Carolina Utilities Commission |
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Mitchell Presentation |
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Gas-Electric Coordination |
| 11:45am - 12:00pm |
Closing Remarks/Adjourn |
