Consumer issues are at the forefront of the energy policy debate. State commissioners, consumer advocates, and electric companies are uniquely positioned to understand those issues and how to best mitigate any potential negative impacts on consumers. These three groups play an important role in influencing the policies and decisions with respect to energy at the state level, and these state policies and decisions are often drivers of broader energy policy. Therefore, it stands to reason that state commissioners, consumer advocates, and electric company representatives take the lead on addressing consumer issues so that our energy policies benefit from their experience, expertise, and insights on consumer preferences and concerns. The Critical Consumer Issues Forum (CCIF) aims to facilitate collaboration among these groups and highlight areas of agreement in a way that enhances each group’s individual efforts to address important consumer-focused issues.
CCIF Leadership
To guide the initiative and assist with program development, CCIF established an Executive Committee and an Advisory Committee. Each with balanced representation from the state commissioner, consumer advocate, and investor-owned electric company communities, these committee members serve as liaisons between their communities and CCIF and provide guidance to the Executive Director with respect to CCIF events and outreach efforts. We thank both current and former committee members for their service. (Former CCIF committee members are recognized in our CCIF Hall of Fame.)
CCIF’s Signature Process
To address the chosen topics, we’ve developed a unique process that includes:
- A large open kickoff forum, typically collocated with the NARUC & NASUCA Annual Meetings, to introduce a topic and initiate discussion among CCIF’s three core communities and other stakeholders;
- A series of smaller, invitation-only spring summits in which the three communities engage in facilitated dialogue; and
- A report issued in the summer to share key takeaways with the broader stakeholder community and serve as a foundation for outreach and additional dialogue on numerous fronts.