Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control Vice Chairman John W. Betkoski, III was appointed to serve on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Smart Grid Working Group, a national panel analyzing smart-grid issues.
Through his appointment to the NARUC’s Smart Grid Working Group, Vice Chairman Betkoski will have an opportunity to influence decisionmakers in Congress, the White House, and in the utility industry as the “smart grid” develops.
“I look forward to working with my State colleagues and others in addressing these issues,” said Vice Chairman Betkoski. “If the smart grid is going to be successful, we must make sure that industry, regulators, and, most important, consumers are on the same page. The Smart Grid Working Group will help us achieve that goal.”
NARUC formed the Smart Grid Working Group to serve as the central focus for communication both within the Association and to outside groups such as federal agencies, consumer groups, and other industry stakeholders. Because the smart grid marks a convergence among telecommunications and energy utilities, NARUC created the Working Group to coordinate its outreach, education, and advocacy on this issue.
The Smart Grid Working Group consists of seven State utility regulators who represent NARUC’s geographic diversity. The Working Group is co-chaired by Chairman Orjiakor Isiogu of Michigan and Commissioner Maureen Harris of New York.
“The smart grid is perhaps the hottest topic in the utility sector,” said NARUC President David Coen. “It is touching off a rapid convergence between telecommunications and energy companies. This group gives us a forum to organize our internal deliberations and our outside advocacy. Our members stand on the frontlines of ensuring that the promise of the Smart Grid meets with the needs of the consumer. I thank Commissioner Betkoski for serving on this Working Group.”
The concept of the smart grid involves the taking of the existing electricity delivery system and making it “smart” by linking and applying seamless communications systems that can gather and store data and convert the data to intelligence, communicating intelligence omnidirectionally among components in the “smart” electricity system; and allowing automated control that is responsive to that intelligence.
NARUC is the national association representing the State public service commissioners who regulate essential energy, telecommunications, and water services.
