Center for Partnerships & Innovation

Regulator Roundtables

Commissioners and commission staff from across the country are often their colleagues’ best sources of insight and support—intimately understanding the utility regulatory environment and sharing a desire to help peers learn lessons from their actions. In complement to NARUC’s member-led committee activities, NARUC CPI staff periodically provide a forum for members to convene in facilitated dialogue through Regulator Roundtables and Commission Staff Surge Calls.

Regulator Roundtables host Commissioners and commission staff to discuss a timely topic during several virtual meetings. "Surge" calls are forums for commission staff to share how different commissions are approaching new issues in electricity regulation. These activities provide a space for Commissioners and commission staff to share their valued experiences and learn from one another. NARUC staff compile non-attributable summaries after each event.

NARUC thanks the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity and DOE Grid Deployment Office for supporting these activities.

In 2019, NARUC’s report Electric Vehicles: Key Trends, Issues, and Considerations for State Regulators showed that utility ownership of EV chargers (also known as “EVSE”) was a major question for Public Utility Commissions. This May 2024 Commission Staff Surge Call allowed commission staff to share updates from their states on decisions to allow (or disallow) utility ownership of EV charging stations. This call provided a chance to hear the justifications that led to such decisions and the factors that were considered (e.g., ratepayer impacts, state EV goals, market competition, equity, etc.). Key questions or discussion points were also mentioned during the dialogue.

View Summary