Topic Description:

Governments play an important role in planning future energy systems for several reasons, including: historical precedents from the 1930s; market failures such as natural monopoly and pollution externalities; as well as public reliance on energy as critical infrastructure. Regulators are challenged with making decisions in a dynamic environment due to an evolving market structure, new technology, and changes in public preferences, among others. The three panelists have all served as commissioners of state public utility regulators and will share their experiences with some of the key current decisions in state-level energy planning.

Speaker Bios:

Gregory Nemet (Moderator)
Associate Professor of Public Affairs and Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gregory Nemet is an Associate Professor of Public Affairs in the La Follette School of Public Affairs and of Environmental Studies in the Nelson Institute’s Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research and teaching focus on improving analysis of the global energy system and, more generally, on understanding how to expand access to energy services while reducing environmental impacts. He teaches courses in energy systems analysis, governance of global energy problems, and international environmental policy. Nemet has been a contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Global Energy Assessment.

Carla Peterman
Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission

Carla Peterman is the Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission where she is the assigned Commissioner for proceedings including the Renewables Portfolio Standard, alternative transportation, and energy storage. She was previously appointed to the California Energy Commission where she was lead Commissioner for renewables, transportation, natural gas, and the 2012 Independent Energy Policy Report. Peterman has conducted research at the University of California Energy Institute at Haas since 2006 and will complete her doctoral studies this year in Energy and Resources at the University of California Berkeley where her research focuses on solar photovoltaic markets, policy, and financial incentives.

Phil Montgomery
Chairperson, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin

Phil Montgomery serves as Chairperson of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. He has worked closely with utility, energy, and telecommunications issues serving six terms as an elected state representative. As a Legislator from 1998 to 2010, Representative Montgomery served on the Joint Committee on Finance, Chaired the Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities and Joint Committee on Information Policy and Technology, and has served on other related committees in the Assembly and on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute.

Lauren Azar
Attorney, Azar Law LLC

Lauren Azar is the founding lawyer of Azar Law, LLC where she is providing a variety of services including business, regulatory and policy advice as well as traditional legal services. Previously, Azar served as the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), where she worked closely with and advised the Secretary on the electric industry and on the institutional barriers to developing the Nation’s electric infrastructure. Prior to the DOE, Azar was a Commissioner at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and was a partner in a corporate law firm where she practiced for 13 years in the area of electric and water utilities.