Public Utility Commissions

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Pathways to Deep Decarbonization

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If state legislation is unclear regarding “need” and “public use,” state PUCs can interpret those terms to encompass regional need and regional public use as well as clean energy goals within the state or region. 20, 543
If the federal government does not do so, state PUCs should compile all building, fire, and other installation requirements into one consolidated source that reconciles inconsistencies. 19, 507
In cost-of-service rate-regulated environments, state PUCs can ease financing burdens by allowing early cost recovery through rates for new nuclear plant development costs. 21, 561
In the absence of legislative action, state PUCs should agree with state environment and energy agencies to clarify respective roles in permitting renewable gas-gathering pipelines and provide for greater cooperation to extent allowed by law. 26, 686-687
Instead of employing a quasi-judicial approach, state PUCs should structure decisionmaking on rates and other policies to encourage participation by all interested parties and broad forward-planning perspectives. 19, 505
State PUCs can help stabilize and subsidize prices for CCS-generated electricity, including by approvals of rates to help defray cost of CCS and power purchase agreements. 28, 726
State PUCs could adopt regulations to ensure that all customers receive information on costs and benefits of switching to electricity 11, 296
State PUCs could allow for incentive rates or other encouragement to facilitate use by the grid of electricity from EV batteries. 14, 372
State PUCs could change existing cost recovery frameworks where they discourage repair by, for example, imposing risk of increased leakage entirely on customers. 33, 889
State PUCs could make clear that merchant transmission line companies can seek siting permits and exercise eminent domain authority under the same conditions as electric utilities. 20, 543
State PUCs could offer a lower rate of return on fossil-fueled power plants and a higher return on plants that rely on renewable fuels. 24, 631
State PUCs should adopt renewable gas quality standards that do not operate as a barrier to pipeline transportation. 26, 688
State PUCs should adopt utility rate designs that align utility interests with energy efficiency, such as decoupling 9, 242
State PUCs should authorize utilities to install smart meters 10, 274
State PUCs should consider adopting special electricity rates customized to homes with geothermal systems. 19, 521
State PUCs should consider possibility of stranded assets when assessing proposals for fossil fuel infrastructure that will be paid for by ratepayers, such as electric transmission lines and generating facilities. 24 app B, 645
State PUCs should create policies to encourage utilities to speed up the interconnection approval process through streamlined automated procedures and online hosting capacity maps. 19, 504
State PUCs should direct their regulated electric utilities to evaluate need for and benefits of grid-scale storage such as pumped storage hydro. 22, 596
State PUCs should discourage, and perhaps penalize, utilities for delaying or denying approval for DG-plus- storage systems. 19, 502
State PUCs should eliminate any mandate for natural gas connections in building codes to allow for geothermal or other low-carbon substitutes. 19, 520
State PUCs should encourage utilities to use grid-connected PV (solar) along with distributed battery storage to provide benefits of resilience and emergency backup to their services. 19, 502
State PUCs should expand community solar ownership legislation, such as virtual net metering, for all customers. 19, 525
State PUCs should maintain net metering until an alternative rate that measures the true value of solar generation is established. 19, 501
State PUCs should mandate new energy-efficiency and renewable energy technologies and programs, create incentives for these programs, and, where appropriate, allow utilities to recover costs of implementing new technologies and programs. 20, 544
State PUCs should participate in negotiations concerning restructuring of utilities away from vertically integrated, investor-owned monopolies, focused on selling more kWh, to alternative models. 19, 503
State PUCs should play a role in restricting utility penalties for solar PV that encourage customer defection. 19, 502
State PUCs should provide some process for funding citizen participation in ratemaking negotiations. 19, 505
State PUCs should refuse to approve, on public interest grounds, any power purchase agreement that restricts the sale of electricity subject to curtailment. 26, 684
State PUCs should require pipeline operators seeking to apply stricter quality standards to renewable gas than natural gas to provide a valid justification for that choice. 26, 688
State PUCs should require utilities to file “distributed resource plans” or locational value maps showing where distributed generation resources are most needed and best deployed. 19, 504
State PUCs should support development of infrastructure for expanded use of EVs by acting to bolster utility investment in it. 14, 367
State PUCs, with state energy and environment agencies, should consider establishing a voluntary prefiling scheme for permit applications for renewable gas-gathering pipelines. 26, 686
State utility commissions could adopt public financing and infrastructure support to assist private entities investing in new nuclear projects. 21, 561
State utility commissions should adopt decoupling mechanisms so that utilities do not receive income in excess of revenue requirement plus earned incentives 6, 166
State utility commissions should authorize or require “on-bill recovery” of loan payments o for energy projects 6, 181
State utility commissions should consider a process for unsolicited proposals from grid-edge resource providers 6, 164
State utility commissions should create clear roadmaps to cross-sector deep decarbonization to ensure emissions reduction goals are met on time and at reasonable cost 1, 38
State utility commissions should encourage local governments to take initiative in building clean energy infrastructure. 23, 611
State utility commissions should encourage utilities to engage in “utility-private partnerships” to procure services from grid-edge resources 6, 152

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