National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) is the national association representing the state public service commissioners who regulate essential utility services, including energy, telecommunications, and water. NARUC members are responsible for assuring reliable utility service at fair, just, and reasonable rates. Founded in 1889, the Association is a resource for its members and the regulatory community, providing a venue to set and influence public policy, share best practices, and foster solutions to improve regulation.

Each summer, NARUC holds committee meetings. Major issues in 2016 for regulatory commissioners are rate design and the EPA's Clean Power Plan. Rate design deals with the issue of how to charge (and pay) customers who generate their own electricity through means such as rooftop solar devices. Consumers whose homes or businesses have solar panels that generate power can typically sell back excess electricity to the power grid in a process called net metering.

The NARUC Board of Directors formally adopted the “Distributed Energy Resources Rate Design and Compensation” manual during NARUC’s annual meeting in La Quinta, California in November 2016. The manual was created as a guide for utility regulators in the process of implementing appropriate DER rate design and compensation policies.

The president of NARCU is Robert Powelson, who was appointed in November 2016 to the position. He previously served as commissioner on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

NARUC has eight standing committees that propose policies for NARUC to support on federal and state issues.

The Consumer Affairs Committee examines how state commissions protect consumer interests as it relates to many industries, including the telecommunications and energy industries. Major issues include "slamming", information protection, and consumer education.

This committee was created after the 2001 terrorist attacks to look at security concerns surrounding utility infrastructure. The committee helps state regulators share best practices and collaborate about the best security practices. The committee chairman is Richard S. Mroz of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. It has one subcommittee, the Staff Subcommittee on Critical Infrastructure which is chaired by Lynn P. Costantini of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.