MEEA Policy Insider - August 2020

The MEEA Policy Insider summarizes the latest state policy activity and provides new resources to aid members in their outreach, education and advocacy initiatives.

In this issue:

COVID-19

States are resuming economic activity, focusing efforts to address the financial impacts of the pandemic and encouraging or requiring safety measures against the spread of COVID-19. Legislative sessions are either adjourned or convening on a limited basis. Some state public service commissions have opened cases to understand and address the financial impacts to customers and/or utilities. Efficiency workforce and programs have been greatly impacted as a result of the economic slowdown and social distancing in late spring that carried into the summer. Utilities and agencies are determining how to resume their energy efficiency programs and in what capacity. Some utilities and agencies are back in-field entirely or have detailed plans to go back in-field. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach and most utilities are emphasizing virtual or remote programs.

MEEA is tracking impacts, program adaptation and recovery from COVID-19 and sharing resources as the situation evolves. For consolidated information, see MEEA’s COVID-19 resources page. Members who are able to share information about utility program and energy service impacts or have any resource needs, please contact Policy Director Nick Dreher.

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Executive

On August 21, Governor Pritzker’s office announced Eight Principles for a Clean and Renewable Economy. The eighth principle is “Enhance Energy Efficiency in Illinois” and lays out numerous policy issues the Governor would like to pursue.

The Governor’s office also announced the previously suspended energy working groups will begin reconvening  and continue into the fall. The four working groups focus on power sector, transportation, equity and commercial/industrial/buildings-related energy efficiency issues. MEEA sits on the commercial/industrial/buildings EE working group.

Legislative

Illinois’ legislative session adjourned on May 31. The legislature may reconvene for fall veto session, from November 17-19 and December 1-3, where clean energy legislation may be considered.

Regulatory

The Illinois Commerce Commission approved revised deadlines for the comment period in 20-NOI-01, a Notice of Inquiry that contains specific questions for utilities and interested parties to weigh in on energy assistance and energy efficiency programs as they relate to energy affordability.

  • September 30: Initial comment deadline
  • October 30: Reply comments deadline

How to Get Involved

Due to COVID-19, large group and working group meetings will be held via teleconference until further notice. Meeting information, COVID-19 updates and documents can be found on the SAG website.

For more information about Illinois or to get more involved, contact Nick Dreher.

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Regulatory

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) released its 2020 Report to the 21st Century Energy Policy Development Task Force (aka the HEA 1278 Energy Study). The IURC was tasked by the legislature with completing a study of statewide energy transition impacts by House Enrolled Act 1278 (2019). The study includes scenarios that look at the increased adoption of DERs, including EE, by residential and commercial customers in Indiana.

Integrated resource planning is ongoing for Indiana utilities. The utility filing deadlines for the next IRPs are:

  • NIPSCO: Nov 1, 2021

Utility stakeholder meetings will continue during the planning period. Updates from the commission on IRPs in Indiana will be posted to the IURC’s IRP page.

How to Get Involved

IRP meetings are all open to the public. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend. If you have any questions about Indiana or want to get more involved, contact Greg Ehrendreich.  

Regulatory

On July 2, AECOM filed the second part of a Kansas electricity rate study directed by the Kansas Legislature via SSB 69 in Docket No. 20-GIME-068-GIE. The study covers 13 topics including cost recovery for infrastructure, electric vehicles, advanced energy solutions, energy markets, impact of rates on economic development and resource planning. Findings showed that high electricity rates have likely contributed to slower economic development relative to peer states. The report recommends that the state determine the desired outcomes of an integrated resource planning process to inform the KCC’s level of prescription in the process, scope and enforcement. It also identifies elements of an IRP that would yield a positive ROI for the planning process; among them is including demand-side resources in screening. The Commission issued an order requiring a new public version of the study including justifications of redacted language, which is expected by August 27.

On June 12, Governor Kelly appointed Andrew French to the KCC. French assumes former commissioner Shari Albrecht’s seat. Before his appointment, French practiced law with Smithyman & Zakoura, representing industrial energy customers, local school districts and a natural gas utility company. French also previously held a staff position at the KCC.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Kansas or to get more involved, contact Samarth Medakkar.

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Regulatory

On July 6, Governor Beshear appointed Kent A. Chandler as Vice Chairman of the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Vice Chairman Chandler’s term runs through June 30, 2024. Prior to his appointment, Chandler served as the Executive Director of the PSC, a role he continues to fill until replaced. Chandler also previously served as an advisor to the commissioners. 

How to Get Involved

If you have any questions about Indiana or want to get more involved, contact Nick Dreher.

Legislative

Michigan’s legislature continues to meet, with session dates scheduled in August and September. Both the Senate Energy and Technology Committee and the House Energy Committee have continued meeting. Much of the focus for the remainder of the legislative session is on balancing the state’s budget.

Regulatory

Governor Whitmer has appointed Commissioner Dan Scripps as the chair of the MPSC. The chair was previously held by Commissioner Sally Talberg, who is being considered for a seat on the ERCOT board of directors in Texas.

The MPSC continues to work on Case No. U-20757, which seeks to understand COVID-19’s impact on utilities, energy efficiency programs and utility customers. MPSC staff is tasked with writing a report that will combine utility survey responses and stakeholder input in the Energy Waste Reduction Collaborative and Low-Income EWR Work Group meetings. The report, which can be found here, was released on June 15. It provides an update on energy efficiency program continuity and outlines potential next steps for the MPSC, utilities and workgroups to take to remain responsive to the challenges of COVID-19. On July 23, 2020, the Commission issued an order describing utility information, impact analysis and recommendations.

MI Power Grid workgroups continue to meet. The Energy Programs and Technology Pilots Workgroup submitted its draft report, which can be found here. The final report is expected on September 30. Comments for the Grid Security & Reliability Standards Workgroup draft report are due this Friday, August 28. Lastly, MI Power Grid announced the newly-formed New Technologies and Business Models Workgroup. The MPSC released a survey to determine topics this workgroup should emphasize.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Michigan or to get more involved, contact Maddie Wazowicz.

Legislative

The Minnesota legislature convened for a third special session on August 12, following two week-long special sessions in June and July. The Energy Conservation and Optimization Act (ECO) was not heard in any of these as much of the legislature’s attention was on police reform, public safety and COVID-19.

The Minnesota legislature closed its 2020 regularly scheduled session on May 17. Much attention was focused on the Clean Energy First Act (HF1405; SF1456), but the bill was laid on the table without a vote in either the House or the Senate.

ECO (HF4502; SF4409) passed the House on May 11, but was not voted on by the Senate prior to session adjournment. ECO would expand the Conservation Improvement Program to allow for beneficial electrification. The bill would also eliminate utility minimum spend requirements for energy conservation, double the electric IOUs’ minimum spend requirements for low-income customers and increase the energy savings goal for electric IOUs from 1.5% to 1.75% of annual retail sales.

Regulatory

The state’s investor-owned utilities submitted their Conservation Improvement Program triennial plans on July 1. These plans outline the utilities’ proposed energy efficiency portfolio for 2021-2023. The CIP plans provide program-level detail, outlining each energy efficiency program’s proposed budget, targeted customer class and estimated energy savings. Initial comments on these CIP plans were due August 12, and reply comments are due tomorrow, August 27. The Public Utilities Commission is expected to rule on the plans in November.

The PUC has opened dockets (20-425, 20-427) at the request of the state’s investor-owned utilities to study potential avenues for cost-recovery of costs and debts incurred through COVID-19. The PUC also opened a docket (20-492) to ask utilities how they and their future infrastructure investments can contribute to the state’s economic recovery. Comments for this COVID response docket will be due in October.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Minnesota or to get more involved, contact Maddie Wazowicz.

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Regulatory

On August 3, the PSC staff filed their report summarizing the findings and comments in working case AW-2020-0356 regarding best practices for recovery of past-due utility customer payments resulting from the pandemic. On August 12, the Commission issued an order directing utilities and inviting interested parties to respond to the report and address staff’s specific question as to whether it is possible to implement the recommendations from the various stakeholders. On August 19, to address reports that warn of a wave of utility disconnections after voluntary suspension of bill collection ended, the Commission issued an order directing its staff to gather various data related to disconnections. Initial findings are expected September 21, 2020, with monthly updates through at least December 2020.

On July 1, the PSC set a procedural schedule for Evergy’s request for an Accounting Authority Order (AAO) to account and receive recovery for costs related to COVID-19. Rebuttal testimony was filed on August 17. The Office of Public Counsel filed rebuttal testimony recommending the Commission reject the AAO. Surrebuttal testimony will be due September 4, 2020 and a Joint List of Issues will be issued September 9.

On July 23, the PSC set a procedural schedule for Spire Gas’ AAO case, a request to track and defer financial impacts due to COVID-19 as a regulatory asset.

The PSC issued an order approving the Unanimous Stipulation and Agreement, filed July 10 by parties in Ameren MO’s MEEIA Cycle 3 extension case.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Missouri or to get more involved, contact Samarth Medakkar. 

Legislative

There are currently three bills in the legislature that would repeal HB 6 (the 2019 law that directed funding to extend coal and nuclear plant viability and repealed the energy efficiency and renewable energy resource standards) and revive the previous energy efficiency standard for utilities. House Democrats introduced HB 738 and House Republicans introduced HB 746. Bipartisan bill SB 346 was introduced in the Senate. All bills would repeal HB 6 and allow the pre-HB6 energy efficiency resource standard to resume at  a 2% annual savings requirement for electric utility energy efficiency programs beginning in 2021 with a utility-specific cumulative savings target of at least 22% by 2027.  

Regulatory

On April 9, AEP Ohio filed a motion to set a test period and date for an application to increase its electric distribution rates. On July 23, the Ohio Consumers Counsel recommended denying AEP’s request for an administrative fee on any non-mandated energy efficiency programs, which the company expressed interest in implementing in testimony. The OCC clarified that their position on the administration fee is in line with PUCO’s decision to strike the shared savings mechanism proposed by Duke (details below), because both would create profit from non-mandated programs for the companies.

AEP Ohio filed an application to amend their time-of-use rate option for default service customers to generate greater bill savings through energy savings during peak usage. The deadline for reply comments was July 24.

On June 8, Duke Energy filed a voluntary proposal for a new energy efficiency and demand-side management program portfolio to be offered in year 2021. On June 17, the Commission struck the shared savings provision in the proposal, citing the intent of HB 6 to terminate mandated energy savings programs in favor of market-based approaches, and that the purpose of shared savings is instead to incentivize overachieving energy savings (which are no longer mandated). On June 26, Duke withdrew this application for efficiency programs in 2021.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Ohio or to get more involved, contact Nick Dreher.

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Executive

Governor Evers’ Task Force on Climate Change has two additional meetings set for August 26 and October 1. The Task Force, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, will discuss policy recommendations proposed by the three task force subcommittees. The Task Force is now charged with issuing recommendations by October 31, 2020, following an extension approved by Governor Evers.

The Energy, Housing and Infrastructure Subcommittee met most recently on August 5. The subcommittee discussed the group’s recommendations that they will pass on to the full task force. Comments on the proposals were due July 31.

Legislative

The Wisconsin legislature has adjourned for the year. Committees will continue to meet in the coming months. Governor Evers may call a special session to respond to COVID-19 and to make adjustments to the state’s budget, but no additional session dates are scheduled at this time.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Wisconsin or to get more involved, contact Nick Dreher.

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Legislative

On May 15, the House passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES) Act. Among other provisions, the bill would increase low-income home energy assistance program (LIHEAP) funding to $1.5 billion through 2021, expand the Payment Protection Program and supply another $1,200 direct payment to eligible individuals. The bill has not been called to a vote in the Senate.

How to Get Involved

For more information about how this federal activity will impact the region or to get more involved, contact Nick Dreher.

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