Transforming Utility Regulation to Achieve Climate Goals
Public Utility Commissions can spur decarbonization by expanding their mandate to include climate.
Public Utility Commissions
Public utility commissions (PUCs) oversee utility activities, including rates, programs, and plans, all of which have direct impacts on commercial and residential energy use in our cities. Below is a collection of IMT resources that can be used to learn more about PUCs and how we’re engaging with them to bring effective energy efficiency projects to local governments.
The Latest
Women in Energy Efficiency: Kelly Crandall
In this Q&A, Kelly, now Uplight’s Director of Risk and Compliance, shared how her current role is creating more sustainable energy opportunities for people and businesses around the world.
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, One Utility at a Time
Associate Director of Utility and Regulatory Strategy, Julia Eagles, shares her path to IMT and her thoughts on the role of utilities in mitigating climate change.
City Energy Project: California Investor-Owned Utility On-Bill Financing Program
This case study describes on-bill financing programs managed by California investor-owned utilities.
Using City-Utility Partnership Agreements to Achieve Climate and Energy Goals
The report helps cities and utilities evaluate partnership agreements to meet climate and energy goals.
The PUC Perspective on a New Era for Local Governments and Public Utilities Commissions
Diversity in perspective is key to robust decision-making. Bringing together a robust set of stakeholders to workshop a problem can uncover new solutions that might have not been otherwise identified. This holds true in many areas, but especially in regulatory environments, where affordability, environmental concerns, resilience, public health and safety, and equity of access may … Continued
Local Government Engagement with Public Utility Commissions Mini Guide
Growing numbers of local governments, such as cities and counties, have identified benefits from working with public utility commissions (PUCs or commissions) to further their goals around clean energy, resilience, and affordability. For local government staff, elected officials, and the communities they serve, this document identifies the opportunities and benefits of working with commissions on … Continued
A New Era for Local Governments and Public Utility Commissions: The City Perspective
Why should cities add engaging with their state public utilities commission (PUC) to their list of responsibilities?
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit”: Creating Alignment between Cities and Utility Energy Efficiency Programs
Cities are increasingly acting as market catalysts to encourage and require building owners to improve energy performance. However, cities implementing building performance policies that require actions like audits or re-tuning may experience conflicts with their regulated utilities’ efficiency programs, which depend on energy savings being additional—not attributable to market adoption or preexisting laws. These utility … Continued
Putting Data to Work: Emerging Uses for Building Energy Data for Utilities
Emerging Uses for Building Energy Data for Utilities Across the U.S., an increasing number of cities, counties, and states are examining building performance benchmarking and transparency as a critical step in addressing building energy and water use. These energy benchmarking and transparency requirements generate new and robust building-level datasets. This report describes the opportunities that … Continued