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News

ICER Welcomes RELOP as its Newest Member

Posted on | by Lisa Mathias

HALIFAX (November 21, 2023) — The Association of the Portuguese-Speaking Energy Regulators, also known as RELOP, is the newest member of ICER. Founded in 2008, RELOP is an international organization that serves as a reference association among energy sector regulators.

Its mission is to promote cooperation and the sharing of experiences, inspiration and innovation in order to guarantee the protection of present and future consumers through a robust regulatory policy, integrating the community of Portuguese-speaking countries.

The founding members of RELOP consist of five energy regulators from Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde and Portugal, who were later joined by Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. It currently has 12 members and remains committed to extending membership to all energy regulatory bodies established in Portuguese-speaking countries.

RELOP’s values align with those of ICER in that it prioritizes cooperation among energy regulators as well as transparency, integrity and innovation among other characteristics. As a new member, RELOP will contribute toward ICER goals through encouraging energy regulators to exchange ideas, learn from each other’s experiences and practices, and inform customers, policymakers and the Portuguese-speaking community at large of the important role of energy regulation.

To learn more about RELOP, visit: https://relop.org/?lang=en.

ICER Honors Recipients of 2023 Distinguished Scholar Awards

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LIMA (August 25, 2023) — The International Confederation of Energy Regulators honored the 2023 recipients of the ICER Distinguished Scholar Award, which celebrates important contributions to scholarship in electricity and natural gas regulation. The ceremony was held today during the 8th World Forum on Energy Regulation.

The 2023 awards recognize scholarship on the theme of The Energy Transformation Challenge: Competitiveness and Sustainability of Energy Markets, Opportunities, and Achievements. Two papers were selected by an international group of leaders in energy and regulation as the best within two categories — Impact on Developing Countries and Next Practices.

“The Awards honor important contributions to scholarship on energy regulation and promote research and innovative thinking that encourages all of us to reflect and consider new approaches to meeting challenges in our field,” said David Danner, ICER Chair and Chair of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

Impact on Developing Countries 2023 Awardee

Competitiveness and Sustainability of Electricity Markets in the ECOWAS Region: Evolution of Reforms, Regulations Challenge and Markets Integration

Dr. Charly Gatete — Economic Community of West African States Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority

Dr. Charly Gatete is an energy economist with more than 15 years of experience in the energy sector in West Africa. Since 2021, he has been an economist expert at ERERA, where he provides economic analysis and contributes to developing economic regulations within regional electricity market development. Before joining ERERA, he has had the roles of a regional program officer in charge of energy at an international non-governmental organization in Niger, a researcher and a lecturer at Thomas Sankara University in Burkina Faso. He is the author and co-author of more than 10 energy-related scientific publications.

Gatete’s paper analyzes the process of liberalization and evolution of competitive reforms in the electricity sector and the construction of competitive electricity markets both at national and regional levels in the ECOWAS region. Its methodological approach is based on the theoretical analysis of policy documents and regulations defined in the 14 ECOWAS member states and data analysis of secondary data collected from several databases.

Next Practices 2023 Awardee

Pricing for Distributed Energy Resources

Dr. Marcio Andrey Roselli (Lead author) — Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency

Mr. André Luiz Veiga Gimenes

Mr. Miguel Edgar Morales Udaeta — University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Mr. Eduardo Crestana Guardia — Federal University of Itajubá, Brazil

Dr. Marcio Andrey Roselli, the lead author of this paper, is a lawyer and electrical engineer with more than 20 years of experience in energy regulation. He is a regulatory specialist for the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency and has a PhD in electric power from São Paulo University, with a postdoctoral degree in tariffs for distributed energy resources from the Federal University of Itajubá.

This paper examines the relation between distributed energy resources and the impact of the cost in distribution network and tariffs. It presents a methodology to quantify the network costs impact due to distributed energy resources and set an associated electricity tariff on the long-run marginal cost paradigm.

To learn more about ICER and its members, visit: www.icer-regulators.net.

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About ICER
The International Confederation of Energy Regulators is a voluntary framework for cooperation between energy regulators from around the globe. Our aim is to improve public and policy-maker awareness and understanding of energy regulation and its role in addressing a wide spectrum of socio-economic, environmental, and market issues.

Chairman David Morton of CAMPUT Elected to Lead International Confederation of Energy Regulators

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LIMA (August 24, 2023) —  New leadership for the International Confederation of Energy Regulators was announced at this week’s World Forum on Energy Regulation held in Lima, Peru.

WFER is the leading international conference on energy regulation and is held every three years. The WFER event brings together key players in the energy industry, high-level decision-makers, academics and regulators from around the world to engage in strategic energy discussions on different regulatory schemes.

The Forum is held within the framework of the International Confederation of Energy Regulators, or ICER, a voluntary framework for cooperation among energy regulators, which aims to help improve the design and implementation of public policies in the energy sector by exchanging information and best practices.

During the WFER, new leaders were elected, with David Morton of the British Columbia Utilities Commission named as the new chair. Three co-vice chairs were elected: Annegret Groebel of the BNetzA (Germany), Maia Melikidze of the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Commission and Dave Danner of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (United States).

Mr. Morton is current chair of the Canadian Association of Utility Commissioners, known as CAMPUT, and was appointed chair and CEO of the BCUC in 2015. Since 2010, he has served as a BCUC commissioner. In her nomination letter, CAMPUT Executive Director Jocelyn Fraser noted that Morton “…is passionate about contributing to advancing utility regulation internationally.”

“I am deeply honored to be elected Chair of ICER and I look forward to continuing the work of ICER to develop and promote best practices for regulators,” said Morton. “This is especially important during this time of unprecedented energy transition.”

Since January 2019, Dr. Groebel has served as president of the Council of European Energy Regulators and has worked for the German regulator BNetzA for more than 25 years, where she currently is the head of international relations. Ms. Melikidze, chair of the Energy Regulators Regional Association, has been a commissioner with the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Commission for a 6-year term since 2017 and worked for former Georgia President Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili as an economic advisor. Mr. Danner, who serves on the board of directors for the U.S.-based National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, has been the chair of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission since February 2013 and served as ICER chair since February 2020 and was previously ICER co-vice chair.

“The members of ICER are grateful for the leadership of outgoing Chair Dave Danner,” said ICER Steering Committee Coordinator Francisco Salazar. “He was instrumental in keeping the organization focused on its mission throughout the pandemic and spearheaded the new ICER Chronicle, taking it from a newsletter format to a professional magazine.”

The new leadership term begins at the conclusion of the current WFER and runs through WFER IX in 2026.

To learn more about ICER and its members, visit http://icer-regulators.net/.

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About ICER
The International Confederation of Energy Regulators is a voluntary framework for cooperation between energy regulators from around the globe. Our aim is to improve public and policy-maker awareness and understanding of energy regulation and its role in addressing a wide spectrum of socio-economic, environmental, and market issues.

Women in Energy Network Spans Continents

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The International Confederation of Energy Regulators (ICER) expands Women in Energy (WIE) with three leaders and sets the tune for the energy transition.

LIMA (August 22, 2023) —  With its newly appointed Chair, Andrea Lenauer, Senior International Relations Advisor at Austrian energy regulator E-Control, the ICER Women in Energy (WIE) initiative leads the way into the energy transition.

“People expect the international energy sector to deliver convenient energy at all times. If we are to manage this immense task, all players, regulators and industry alike, must cultivate our international networks and cooperate ever more closely, and this must include women”, says Lenauer.

Women make up half the planet’s population, and through their consumption decisions as private individuals, they have a bearing on energy consumption. However, women are still underrepresented at decision-making level in international energy companies.

New multi-year peer coaching programmes for mid-career women and HR experts

Even though the executive levels at regulatory authorities are more female than those in the energy industry at-large, much remains to be done. To address this, WIE has developed a multi-year peer coaching programme for mid-career women that brings together peers across continents, thereby creating an opportunity to interact with like-minded women from outside one’s own bubble.

A second peer coaching programme will start in the autumn and focus on HR experts. It will shine light on international best practices in areas such as childcare and flexible working arrangements. If done right, such practices can motivate women to take on leadership roles and be supported in their careers.

“The ‘classic’ career is becoming very rare. For example, I am chairing WIE as a parent working part-time (12 hours/week), and I would like for others to be able to take on such challenges as well. We need to do away with the idea of having to spend 10 hours a day at the office, five days per week. Creativity and problem-solving require different approaches. In a management culture where questions are treated as a resource-oriented tool, peer coaching can be translated into great benefits”, Lenauer emphasises.

Online networking saves time, money, and resources

High-quality solutions often rely on time and resources. Both are hard to come by, especially for parents. The new online networking format developed by WIE is a tool for these situations. Women from Tbilisi, Sydney, Houston, Nairobi, Sweden – you name it – can meet up online and exchange views about the challenges of the energy transition in an efficient way. Engineers, lawyers, economists, and HR managers from the electricity, gas, oil, renewables, heat and water sectors can come together to listen, reflect, and exchange views. Using the online format, women can benefit from digitalisation and increased peer availability, can generate new ideas and develop skills – all while protecting the environment by avoiding flight emissions.

Global, personal network beats strategic network

A value-driven network is based on quality relationships. Whether the energy sector can be resilient will depend on the leadership being able to work across disciplines, reflect, and change perspectives. Taking on responsibility, addressing the questions of our time and working towards the common good must be considered equally with the interests of shareholders. Andrea Lenauer is convinced that “in the end, the sectors and relationships that have a resilient, global basis will be the ones to endure.”

Working across continents requires a good reliable team

On August 22, 2023, the ICER Steering Committee nominated two new WIE Vice Chairs, Ms Erin Hammel (Senior Director, International Programs at NARUC, USA) and Ms Nadia Horstmann (Head of Section in the International Department at Bundesnetzagentur, Germany). The Vice Chairs will help implement the three year-programme, together with the WIE Chair Andrea Lenaur. The WIE team is supported by Ms Martina Schusterová (Deputy Secretary General of CEER, Brussels, Belgium).

To learn more about ICER and its members, visit http://icer-regulators.net/.

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About ICER
The International Confederation of Energy Regulators is a voluntary framework for cooperation between energy regulators from around the globe. Our aim is to improve public and policy-maker awareness and understanding of energy regulation and its role in addressing a wide spectrum of socio-economic, environmental, and market issues.

CEER – Analysis of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Effects on the Energy Sector

Posted on | by Lisa Mathias

The COVID-19 pandemic has had important economic and social repercussions across the globe that also impacted the energy sector. As an immediate response in March 2020, CEER Members decided to establish an ad hoc working group, chaired by CEER Vice-President Jean-Laurent Lastelle, to exchange best practices in these unprecedented times. In other words, the group focuses on assessing how the energy sector was affected by this pandemic, as well as the steps that governments, regulators, and others in the energy sector took in response to this crisis. Reports published by the working group can be found here.

NARUC – Compilation of COVID-19 News & Resources

Posted on | by Lisa Mathias

NARUC is committed to caring for the health and well-being of our members and employees and playing an active role in supporting local health officials and government leaders. Read about the latest decisions being made by NARUC, as well as actions being taken in response to COVID-19 at the federal and state level.

More information here:

https://www.naruc.org/compilation-of-covid-19-news-resources/

MEDREG – Gas Working Group adapts its deliverables to the Covid-19 implications (press release)

Posted on | by Lisa Mathias

The Gas Working Group (GAS WG) held a virtual meeting through video conference on 22 April to carry on with its planned 2020 deliverables, composing with the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions and consequences.

Indeed, due to the pandemic and resulting flight restrictions, the MEDREG Training on “Unbundling and TPA in gas and electricity markets” initially scheduled in Istanbul in March 2020 had to be postponed to a later stage.

With regards to the report on “Design Mechanism for Gas Market able to Foster Energy Transition”, which also forms part of the 2020 gas deliverables, the Group defined its structure. It will include the emergency measures National Regulatory Authorities took in the gas sector to counter the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the gas markets.

As for the study visit foreseen for the Egyptian Gas Regulator (GASREG) to explore market monitoring of the transmission and distribution segments in the newly opened Egyptian gas market, the Group will decide whether to develop it physically or through digital means according to the evolution of the Covid Pandemic.

Finally, the 2020-2022 MEDREG Action Plan for the GAS WG and the UfM GAS platform 2020-2022 work program were presented to members, collecting feedback and suggestions on how to carry out the deliverables.

More information here:

http://www.medreg-regulators.org/PG/Eventdetail.aspx?IDUNI=t1n4qhh2bw2iwhdmfxizo4lo1136

CEER – Members guarantee energy supply during lockdown (press release)

Posted on | by Lisa Mathias

Saving lives is the number one priority during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis. Hospitals, including mobilised ones, need a guaranteed electricity supply for normal functioning and for ventilators to save lives.  Keeping the lights on and the markets functioning is the normal job of the energy regulator. At no time is the crucial role of the energy sector more important than during a global health crisis. The entire energy sector, national energy regulators and ministries are working hard to support the front-line medical systems and the daily lives of millions of European citizens in lockdown.

More information here:

https://www.ceer.eu/ceer-press-release-on-covid-measures-and-impact-on-regulators#