NECPUC 2018 energy symposium

New England utility regulators have gathered in Maine for the 71st annual symposium of the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners.

NECPUC is a non-profit corporation which provides regional regulatory assistance on matters of common concern to public utilities commissions of the six New England states. Its board of directors is composed of public utilities commissioners from the six New England states. NECPUC meets regularly throughout the year and sponsors an annual symposium on regulatory issues.

NECPUC holds its 71st annual symposium in Cape Neddick, Maine, from May 20-23, 2018. The agenda for the 2018 NECPUC event includes programs focused on topics affecting the New England utility landscape. For the energy sector, these include a plenary session on wholesale markets and how consumers are impacted by "reliability-centric market challenges," as well as a panel on advancing electric vehicle infrastructure in New England. Another set of panels focuses on how to analyze, regulate, and manage risks of high-impact, low-frequency events like cybersecurity attacks or extreme weather. Other panels cover water, telecommunications, and natural gas topics.

Speakers scheduled to appear include Maine Governor Paul LePage and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Commissioner Robert Powelson, as well as commissioners from numerous state public utilities commissions.

Maine Gov. LePage's 2018 State of the State and energy policy

Maine Governor Paul R. LePage delivered his final State of the State address this evening. Here's a recap of some of his remarks on energy policy in previous speeches of that sort.

• In 2012, Governor LePage described Maine’s high energy costs as "one of the largest inhibitors, if not the biggest obstacle to job creation." He advocated an energy policy encompassing "all forms of energy."
• Energy did not appear in his 2013 speech, according to a transcript provided by the Portland Press Herald.
• In 2014, Governor LePage noted that "heating and electricity costs remain a major obstacle," with homeowners spending nearly double the national average on heating, and high electricity costs posting challenges to attracting business. He described efforts to expand natural gas pipeline capacity from Pennsylvania, and to connect to clean energy resources in Quebec.
• In 2015, Governor LePage used his speech to argue for lower electricity rates and home heating costs, as well as changes to Maine’s renewable energy policies.
• In 2016, Governor LePage released his speech in the form of a letter to the state legislature. As in previous speeches, his 2016 letter mentioned energy issues as a focus for -- or obstacle to -- economic development. Arguing that Maine's electricity prices are not competitive, he criticized legislative mandates supporting "long-term contracts for above-market rates." He also called for expansion of linear infrastructure like natural gas pipelines into New England and electric transmission lines to hydropower resources in Canada.
• Last year, he returned to delivering the speech to the legislature orally. His 2017 address included a section on energy matters, in which he criticized the Public Utilities Commission's decision to amend its rules governing net energy billing. He called upon lawmakers to agree to lower energy costs, to lower carbon dioxide levels in the most cost-effective manner, and to reduce our demand for oil.

Addendum as of 9 PM: WMTW has posted a transcript of Governor LePage's 2018 State of the State speech on its website, as prepared. That draft covers topics including "skyrocketing property taxes," Medicaid expansion, and fiscal responsibility. It calls for increased investment in Maine and workforce development. It proposes bonds focused on commercializing technologies, as well as on research and development, saying, "We must invest in commercialization as we do in research." However the prepared remarks did not mention energy, nor does it directly reference energy policy.

Nevertheless, the Bangor Daily News reports that his remarks as delivered did address energy, calling for lower energy prices.

Energy in Maine's 2016 State of the State

Maine Governor Paul LePage has released his 2016 State of the State remarks in the form of a letter to the state legislature.  Among his top priorities detailed in the letter is addressing the high cost of electricity in the manufacturing and industrial sectors.  The eight-page letter also focuses on themes including welfare reform, lowering the income tax, reducing student debt and attracting youth, and fighting the drug crisis.

Energy issues appear in Governor LePage's letter as a focus for -- or obstacle to -- economic development.  In the letter, he repeats his position that "Maine's electricity prices are not competitive."  The letter criticizes legislative mandates supporting "long-term contracts for above-market rates" as adding $38 million in ratepayer costs.

The letter also addresses Maine's renewable energy policy, calling for support for Maine's biomass energy industry while criticizing the economics of wind and solar energy projects:

Socialists love to subsidize new wind and solar energy projects because they think it will save the earth, but that kind of expensive and inefficient energy benefits only a few wealthy investors, and our electrical generation is already one of the cleanest in the country. Instead, let's support the existing Maine-based biomass infrastructure that is already in place to take advantage of our plentiful natural resource: wood.

Indeed, references to socialism and socialists appear twelve times throughout Governor LePage's 2016 State of the State letter.  (A reference to Senator Bernie Sanders' candidacy for President?)

In his letter, Governor LePage also called for expansion of linear infrastructure like natural gas pipelines into New England and electric transmission lines to hydropower resources in Canada:

Meanwhile, my Administration continues to make progress working with other New England states to expand hydropower and natural gas into our region. Right now there is construction underway to expand our pipelines into New England, and clean and affordable hydropower is right next door in Quebec. It's time to switch off expensive energy. We must plug into the affordable reserves of nearby natural gas and hydropower. We must be willing to transmit hydropower to the states south of us.

These themes of energy infrastructure investment echo those playing out elsewhere in the Northeast U.S., as states explore expanded connections to natural gas from the Marcellus shale and Canadian hydropower.